A Tale of Two Sisters
by DreamonAlina
Summary: In the Enchanted Forest, Rosaline Blanche is the adoptive daughter of a tavern owner. In Storybrooke, Rosie Parker is the owner of a bar with a little girl to feed. When Emma Swan shows up in Storybrooke, it stirs up trouble that Rosie finds herself in the middle of. More inside. Eventual Hook/OC. First in the Light Saviour Prophecies.
1. Pilot, part 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Once Upon a Time! I only own my OC, Rosaline "Rosie" Blanche Parker, and any other characters and plot lines I make up along the way!

 **Summary:** In the Enchanted Forest, Rosaline Blanche is the adoptive daughter of a tavern owner. One day, Captain Hook shows up to their tavern, demanding that her father give him the money that he owed Hook. Desperate to protect her family, Rosie volunteers to pay off the debt working for Hook instead. In Storybrooke, Rosie Parker is the owner of a bar with a little girl to feed. When Emma Swan shows up in Storybrooke, it stirs up trouble that Rosie finds herself in the middle of.

 **Author's Note:** What's up, my good readers? I'm actually very excited to write this story because Rosie's character and backstory is gonna be AWESOME!

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

I sighed as I poured some bourbon into a glass for a customer. I slid the glass towards the customer, and he lifted it in a "thank you" gesture to me. I nodded at him and turned to my next customer.

I was the proud (not so much) owner of Parker's Tank, the town of Storybrooke's bar. I didn't know what made me want to own a bar, but it just called out to me and here I was, mixing drinks for people who need an escape and find that escape in alcohol. I didn't blame them, though. Life could be tough shit.

Sometimes I just watched what everyone else does to make sure that they were doing their jobs right but most of the time I was behind the counter mixing drinks, or serving adequate food to people (I hadn't been shut down by health services yet and I wasn't planning on it).

My next customer turned out to be our very own Sheriff Graham Humbert. I smirked as I wiped down the counter in front of him. It was actually a laughable thing that Storybrooke had a Sheriff: the worst thing that could happen here was if someone got caught stealing an apple from a farmer's market. "Well if it isn't our very own Sheriff," I said. I leaned forward a little. "Are you here to arrest me for bad kitchen conditions?"

Graham gave me a look. "One day, I _will_ get you for your kitchen. I swear I saw an eyeball in my soup."

"Keep trying, Sheriff," I said in a sing song voice. "Just know if you shut down my bar, it's _you_ I'm coming after to feed my daughter."

I had a four year old daughter at home. At just four years old, Olivia Parker was the cutest thing ever. With crazy curly brown hair, she was my number one fan, and the one person I'd do anything for.

"Just give me a June Bug, why don't you?"

" _That_ I can do for you," I said as I took a glass out and began prepping the drink.

The main phone in the bar rang, and I answered it while still making Graham's drink. "Parker's Tank," I greeted, balancing the phone between my ear and shoulder.

"Oh, Ms. Parker?" the voice of Olivia's daycare teacher, Mrs. Geller, said. "I'm sorry to have to call on your work line, but you weren't answering your cell phone."

I furrowed my eyebrows and nodded when I remembered why my phone wasn't ringing. "I turned it off during the dinner rush so I wouldn't be disturbed." I looked over at the clock on the wall in the danky bar. "Is pick up early today or something? Because it's still only six thirty."

"No, it's not that. We just request that you come pick up Olivia early today."

"Why? Did something happen?" I asked, my heart automatically hammering at the thought of my baby hurt.

"No, but she _did_ bite one of the other children," Mrs. Geller said. "We haven't gotten Olivia to settle down since. She keeps asking for you."

"But...I don't close until nine," I said helplessly. My schedule was usually pretty good with the bar closing at 7 most nights, but on nights like tonight (which was a Friday) business was open later. Fridays were the days that my friend Kalina took home Olivia when they took home her own son Kai, and I would swing by and pick up Olivia from Kalina's. But Kalina was currently still working as well.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I looked over to see Jane Porter, one of my employees. Jane and I's arrangement worked out pretty well: Jane loved to drink, and I needed someone to work late nights with me because most of my employees had families of their own. Jane was still pretty young and in need of a job and even though I had come very close to firing her on numerous occasions in the past, I'd still held on to Jane because I thought I saw potential. "If you have to go pick up your little rugrat, I'll lock up."

I shook my head at her. "Jane, I can't let you do that."

"Why not? It's what you pay me for, isn't it?"

"First of all, I've never left you to lock up the bar since that one night that you stayed behind and drank yourself stupid and _forgot_ to lock up the bar, and someone robbed us. Second of all, I pay you to mix drinks, not lock up after my bar."

"Listen, I don't see anyone else offering since everyone hates lock up duty, and you have a kid to go pick up. I don't see any other options," Jane said as she crossed her arms.

I blew air out of my lips. She had me. I turned back to the phone. "Thank you for calling me, Mrs. Geller. I will be there to pick up Liv in a few minutes."

I hung up and took off my apron. "Sorry, Sheriff. Looks like you'll have to arrest me for serving you shady alcohol some other time."

I went to the back room and grabbed my coat and car keys. It was raining, and I pulled up my hood to keep myself dry as I ran to my car.

Why would Liv bite someone? She was never a violent kid. Well, I guess since I taught her that "violence is never the _good_ option" instead of "violence is never the option", I'd brought it on myself. But still, I was going to get an answer out of that kid.

I pulled up to the daycare and ran to the front door. Liv instantly brightened when she saw me walk in the door, and she smiled as she ran over to me. "Mommy!" She cried as she leaped into my arms.

Despite being mad at her for hurting another kid and forcing me to leave work, she was still the light of my life. So, I opened up my arms wide and grabbed her in the tightest hug I could ever give someone. "Hi, baby," I said as I peppered her with kisses.

I stood up and turned to the sign out at the daycare. "Do you have any idea what happened?" I asked the secretary at the front desk.

He shook his head. "Just that she bit someone. That's not like Liv, though."

"I know," I said as I signed it. "I'll see you tomorrow, Jerry."

Jerry waved goodbye to us as I took Liv's hand and began walking to the car with me.

"What's for dinner?" Liv asked as I helped her into the car.

"We'll see," I said as I buckled her safely in. "What do you think about mac and cheese?"

"Ooh, yummy!" She said excitedly as she began to gently kick her feet against the passenger seat.

I couldn't help but laugh at her antics. However, I still had to be the mother. "No kicking the seat, you'll get it dirty," I slightly scolded as I shut her door and went over to the driver's seat. I got in, buckled myself in, and began the short ride to our house.

"Livvy," I started. "Mrs. Geller tells Mommy that you bit someone. Is that true?"

I gave the kid a little credit as she proudly nodded her head. "Yes, I did."

"Want to tell Mommy why?" I asked as we came to a stop light.

Liv shook her head. "No, Mommy. I can't tell you."

"Can't tell Mommy?" I asked with a little pout. "You can tell Mommy anything, you know that."

"I don't want to make Mommy sad," Liv said as we pulled into the driveway.

I got out of my seat and went over to the side that she was on. I opened the door and reached over to unbuckle her seatbelt. "Mommy is sad that you're not telling her. Tell Mommy, and Mommy will feel better."

I helped her out and she began waddling up to our front door. Our house wasn't very big. In fact, it was an attached house. The living room and kitchen were connected, and there were only two bedrooms, Olivia's and mine.

Olivia immediately headed to the TV, but I beat her to it as I stood in front of it defiantly. "No TV until you tell Mommy what happened today."

Olivia huffed but made her way to the couch. She plopped down on it as I sat next to her, waiting to hear what happened.

"Brooke and I were playing House with dollies," Liv started as she played with her hand. "I wanted to play with a mommy doll and a daddy doll, but Brooke took the daddy doll from me."

"Why did Brooke do that?" I asked.

Liv's lower lip wobbled a little as she said, "Brooke said since I don't have a daddy, I don't get to play with a daddy doll."

My heart broke for my little girl. I reached over and wrapped an arm around her, hugging her to me. She took it as a positive sign and crawled into my lap. I cradled her to my chest as I kissed the top of her head. "Brooke should not have said that to you. I'll talk to her parents. I'm sorry she said that to you." I pressed another kiss to her nose. "Do you want to watch some TV while Mommy makes you some dinner?"

Liv nodded as she got off of my lap and sat back down on the couch. I grabbed the television remote and switched on a kids' channel for her to watch. As I got up, I rubbed the top of her head and walked towards the kitchen.

I rubbed my hand over my face as I took out a box of Kraft Dinner. Children could be so cruel sometimes, I honestly couldn't believe it. Hadn't her parents taught her some manners?

Unfortunately, Brooke wasn't lying. Olivia's father had passed before she was born, so she didn't know what it was like to have a father. It was just the two of us, and it will always be the two of us.

My house phone rang, and I grabbed it off of the charger as I answered it. "Parker residence," I said.

"Rosie?" The voice of Henry Mills said into my phone. His voice was very distant too, which meant that he was calling from somewhere far. I was a friend of his mother, Regina AKA the Mayor of Storybrooke (not really a friend per se, but we worked together a lot) and Henry usually watched Olivia whenever I was over at their place working with Regina. I had given him my phone number in case it was ever an emergency and he needed someone.

"Henry?" I asked. "Where are you? I can barely hear you."

"I'm in Boston," He answered. "I'm calling you from a payphone."

"Boston?" I repeated in disbelief. I couldn't help but launch into "protective mother mode"."How the hell did you get to Boston? Why are you in Boston? Does your Mom know you're in Boston?"

"No, she just knows that I'm missing and I don't want you to tell her," Henry said. "I took a bus to get to Boston, and I'm here to find my birth mother."

Oh my God. He went all the way to Boston to find his _birth mother_? "Henry, get on a bus _right now_ and come home. I'm going to call your Mom."

"No, please don't," Henry begged.

I huffed. I knew Henry had a complicated relationship with Regina, so I took a little pity on him. "If you get on a bus right now and get home in the next hour, I won't go to Regina. If you're not in your home in an hour I'm going straight to your Mom and telling her where you are."

"Okay, thank you," Henry said. "I'll be home soon, I promise."

"One hour Henry," I repeated sternly. "I'm setting a timer."

* * *

 **TBC...**

 **Not much, but I wanted** _ **something**_ **up! And now that it's up I'll be motivated to do more work on it.**

 **REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	2. Pilot, part 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Once Upon a Time! I only own my OC, Rosaline "Rosie" Blanche Parker, and any other characters and plot lines I make up along the way!

 **Author's Note:** What's up? New chapter coming your way!

I wanted to add that when we read about Rosie's past, it'll be different _points_ in her past. Like for the first little while, it's going to include parts _pre_ -meeting Hook and _post_ -meeting Hook, to give a little mystery on what had happened between the two of them.

 _Italics_ are scenes shown in the Enchanted Forest, and _**Bold Italics**_ are scenes that are a part of Rosie's life in the Enchanted Forest!

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _"Rumplestiltskin!" The guard called out as he approached the cell, holding a torch to light the way while Prince Charming and Snow White followed behind him. "I have a question to ask."_

 _The Dark One smirked to himself. "Oh I'm sure you do, but it's not your question, dearie." He walked to the bars of his cell as he pointed at Snow White and Prince Charming. "They do. Snow White and Prince Charming, what an honour it is to have you both visit my lonely cell," Rumplestiltskin greeted with a high laugh. "You insult me. Step into the light and take off those ridiculous robes."_

 _The newlyweds hesitated but pulled down their hoods as they stepped into the light. "We're come to ask you about-"_

 _"The Queen's threat," Rumplestiltskin cut them off. "Yes, I am well aware of why you are here."_

 _"Tell us what you know!" Snow ordered._

 _"Hmm, tense, aren't we?" Rumple teased. "Fear not, for I can ease your mind." A treatcherous grin crossed the Dark One's face as he sang, "I will tell you what I know...for a price."_

 _"No," Charming immediately declined. He turned to his wife. "This is a waste of time."_

 _"What do you want?" Snow asked._

 _"The name of your unborn child," Rumple answered._

 _"Absolutely not!" Charming said at the same time as Snow said, "Deal!"_

 _Snow didn't stop there. "What do you know?"_

 _The Dark One chuckled. "The Queen has created a powerful curse, and it's coming. Soon, you'll all be in a prison, just like mine! Only worse, for_ your _prison,_ all _of our prisons, will be time, for time will stop, and we will be trapped someplace terrible, where everything we hold dear, everything we love will be ripped from us, while we suffer for all eternity, while the Queen celebrates, victorious at last!" The grin dropped from his face. "No more happy endings."_

 _Snow stepped closer to Rumple. "What can we do?"_

 _"We can't do anything," Rumple answered._

 _"Who can?" Snow demanded._

 _Rumple poked his hands through the bars and put his fingers to her stomach. "That little thing growing inside your belly."_

 _Charming drew his sword and tapped Rumple's hand away from his wife's stomach. "Next time, I cut it off," He growled._

 _Rumplestiltskin clicked his tongue. "The infant is our only hope. Well, it, and one other person."_

 _Snow and Charming furrowed their eyebrows. "A second person? Who?"_

 _"They say that she has been born of extreme light magic, despite her mother's own darkness," Rumple explained. "It's been said that when the Light and the Saviour unite, the entire Earth would shake to accommodate the mass amount of power that comes off of the two of them in each other's prescence. The Light and the Saviour will become siblings in the idea that their magic will intertwine and become one. Together, the two of them will be unstoppable." The Dark One snapped out of his prophetic state. "But for that to happen, you must get the child to safety. Get the child to safety, and on its twenty eigth birthday, the child will return. It will meet the Light, and the child will find you, and the final battle will begin!" Rumple burst into crazy laughter._

 _"I've heard enough, we're leaving," Charming said, grabbing his bride's hand to lead her away._

 _The two of them began to walk away when Rumple began to shout,"Hey, you two! We made a deal! I want her name! We had a deal! I need her name! H-h-her name!"_

 _Charming froze in his steps. "'Her'?" He asked, puzzled. "It's a boy."_

 _"Missy! Missy, you know I'm right," Rumplestiltskin said. "Tell me. What's her name?"_

 _Snow White slowly turned around. "First, tell me the name of the other child."_

 _"'Child'?" Rumplestiltskin repeated with a laugh. "The Light is not a_ child _by any means. And her name is Rosaline Blanche," He revealed. "Now,_ your _child's name?"_

 _Snow hesitated before saying, "Emma. Her name is Emma."_

* * *

 _ **"Rosaline Blanche, don't just sit there," My mother, Ava chasited as I leaned over the counter of our bar in the tavern that my family owned. "Do some work."**_

 _ **"But I'm tired!" I complained.**_

 _ **"Do you want to eat everyday?" Ava asked, giving me a look. I didn't respond, mainly because she knew my answer-yes, I did. And yes, I knew that the tavern was our only source of income. "Then get to it." A thought struck her and she walked back towards me. "And no magic."**_

 _ **"No magic!" I protested, but my mother gave me a look that told me she was serious. I huffed as I turned around and Ava began waiting tables again.**_

 _ **I blew air out of my lips as my brother, Aron, tossed me a wash cloth and I began scrubbing down the counter.**_

* * *

After one hour, I packed Liv into my car and drove over to the Mayor's house. It was lucky that Storybrooke was so small; it was easy to find the Mayor's home. I mean, even though I'd been there a few times, it would still be pretty easy to find. It was the biggest house in the town.

As I came to a stop in front of Henry's home, I saw a tall blonde figure walking out the door, swirling a key ring in her hands.

"Stay in the car and don't you dare try to get out," I told Livvy as I got out of the front seat and power walked to the door.

But as I was walking, a strange feeling overwhelmed me, so much so that I actually pitched forward and fell to my knees. The ground shaking underneath my feet didn't exactly help either, and I was suddenly struck with the urge to throw up.

I vaguely heard the sound of something else hitting the ground, and I tried to look through my blurry vision to see the blonde figure from before was also knocked to the ground. I locked eyes with-who I was assuming to be a woman-and was overcome with a strange surge of electricity flowing through my veins.

Thankfully, it passed quickly, and I was able to get to my feet. I had recovered sooner than the woman had, and even though the ground was still shaking, I made my way over to her. She was still conscious, which was a good thing, and the second I touched her to help her sit up, the earthquake-was it an earthquake?-stopped.

I was very confused, but I concerned myself with the blonde woman first. "Are you okay, miss?" I asked her, putting my hand behind her back to help her sit up.

"I'm...fine..." She answered, shaking her head free of the dizzyness. She had the same look of confusion as I did when she looked over at me. "Who are you?"

"My name is Rosie Parker," I answered, standing up. I offered the woman my hand. "What's yours?"

The woman eyed my hand wearily before finally accepting it, and I helped her stand up. "Emma Swan."

"Well, Emma Swan," I said, looking over to the door of Henry's house. "Why are you walking out of the Mayor's house?"

"I was just returning her kid," Emma answered.

My eyes bugged out of my head. " _You're_ Henry's birth mother?"

"How did you know that?" Emma asked, very guarded. "How do you know Henry?"

"Uhh, I know his mother," I stammered, still freaked out over what had happened earlier. "I do business with her sometimes."

I knew what had happened earlier had knocked Emma a little of course too, but she hid it as she said stiffly, "Well, Rosie, that's all that I was here for, so goodbye." She walked around me and over to a little yellow buggy.

I could only stare after her dumbly for a few seconds. Then, I snapped back to attention and went back to my car, driving me and my little one back home where we belonged.

* * *

 _ **I swirled a wave of water in the middle of my palm so that it created a tornado and let it go up to the air, making the children of my village laugh and squeal with glee. I was used to this; the kids coming around and asking me to do some of my magic. Of course, then their parents would come and take them away and berate them for being near me, but I was strangely okay with that. My mom told me that they were just afraid of what my magic could do, like the Queen's magic. It was strange though. All my magic ever made me feel was happiness, like I was being filled with warm honey.**_

 _ **Right on time, the mothers of the children who were watching me do my magic came and took them away. I shook my head slightly as I readjusted the grip on my laundry basket. I had been gathering my family's clothes from our clothesline outside when the children had come up to me.**_

 _ **I hummed a little tune as I worked, feeling much more like myself than I have for a while. When I unclipped a dress, a harsh wind blew by and took the dress with it.**_

 _ **I groaned as I dropped my basket and picked up the skirt of my dress to run after it. I pushed past a few people, yelling out apologies as I ran. Right when my dress was about to go into a river, a hand reached out and the dress froze in mid air, hanging precariously over the rushing water.**_

 _ **My heart rate dropped from fast to a normal beat. "Thank you so much," I said as I turned to my saviour. It was a man about the same age as I was (if not a little older), who was using his magic to hold my dress over the water. He gave me a smile as he guided the dress back over to me with a wave of his hands. I blushed slightly pink as the dress landed in my hands. "Thank you," I said again, this time a little less enthusiastic.**_

 _ **The man was very attractive, I couldn't help but notice. He had raven hair that tousled at the top, and the bluest pair of eyes that I had ever seen. He smiled at me again, causing my heart to flutter. I hadn't felt this way in a very long time...**_

 _ **"It was no trouble," He said.**_

 _ **"If it weren't for you, my dress would be swimming with the fishes," I pointed out. I held out my hand for him to shake. "My name is Rosaline. What is yours?"**_

 _ **The man reached over and took my hand, shaking it as he said, "My name is Merlin."**_

* * *

After dropping Liv off at school the next day, I was on my way home (the bar didn't actually open until one pm because the thought of someone drinking so early wasn't exactly pleasant to me) when my cell phone started ringing. My mind was so wrapped up in what happened with Emma last night (I had even dreamt about it-it was nothing that I'd ever felt before) that it took me a minute to realize that my phone was actually ringing. As I came to a stop at a red light, I fished my phone from out of my purse that was sitting on the seat next to me and answered. "Hello?"

"Rosie?" Sheriff Graham asked. "Sorry for bothering you so early."

"No, that's fine," I said as the light changed colour, and I used one hand to steer. "If you're looking for my services, I don't do anything until after nine pm. You know that's the rule, Sheriff."

Graham chuckled on the other line. "You do know that I enjoy your services, but I'll save that for another day. For now, I have an Emma Swan down here at the station. When I asked her who she wanted her phone call to be, she said your name."

I scrunched up my face in confusion. "Are you looking for the right Rosie Parker?"

"She said the one that knew Henry Mills," Graham answered. "So, can you see your way down here?"

I changed my turn signal from going right to where I lived to straight where the Sheriff's office was without really thinking. "Yeah, I'll be down there as soon as I can."

"See you then, Rosie," Graham said, and we both hung up.

* * *

I strolled up into the Sheriff's office, and Graham came around to the front to greet me. "Hey, you're here."

"Yeah," I said, readjusting my purse strap over my shoulder. "Where is she?"

"Holding cell area," Graham answered, and I followed him to where the holding cell area was.

When I walked in, I saw Emma stand up from the cell she was in and walk over to the bar. "Hey," She said sheepishly. "For the record, I don't know why I said your name. It just kinda slipped out."

"Did you meet her at your bar, Rose?" Graham asked as he walked over to her cell.

Emma growled. "For the last time, I wasn't drunk!"

I shook my head. "Whatever!" I said, brushing off Emma's excuse. I turned to Graham. "How much is the bail to get her out?"

"Two hundred dollars."

I swear my heart stopped. I spun around and faced Emma. " _Two hundred dollars_? What'd you do, rob a bank?"

"I wish, that seems a lot cooler than what I actually did," Emma said.

"She damaged public property," Graham filled in. "She knocked the town sign out of its place."

"You're really charging me two hundred dollars for _that_?"

"Hey, you _can_ just leave her here."

I was interrupted by the sound of Regina's voice. "Graham, Henry's run away again. We have to-" She paused when she saw me, and her gaze flickered over to Emma in the cell. "What is _she_ doing here?" She asked, nodding her head at Emma. "Do you know where he is?"

"Lady, I haven't seen him since I dropped him at your house, and I have a pretty good alibi," Emma said, stroking the bars of the cell.

Regina turned to me. "Do you know where he is?"

I shook my head. "Sorry, I just got a call from Graham saying that he needed me to bail Emma out."

"Well, he wasn't in his room this morning," Regina informed us.

"Did you try his friends?" Emma asked.

"He doesn't really have any," Regina answered. "He's kind of a loner."

"Every kid has friends," Emma thought out loud. "Did you check his computer? If he was close to someone, he'd be e-mailing them."

"And you know this _how_?" Regina asked.

"Finding people is what I do. Here's an idea," Emma started, standing up straight. "How about you guys let me out, and I'll help you find him?"

I looked over at Graham. "Do I still have to pay her bail?"

"You'll have to pay for the damage that she caused with the sign."

I grumbled under my breath, reaching into my purse for my checkbook. "That's what I was afraid of."

* * *

Because Sheriff Graham was such a nice guy, he cut down the bail money, mainly because it wasn't necessarily _bail_ anymore, just a charge to fix public property. Since I had nothing to do until the bar opened at one, I volunteered to help look for Henry. I liked the kid, too. He was like one of the family.

We were at Regina's house, in Henry's room, where Emma was opening up emails on his computer. "Smart kid. He cleared his in-box." Emma reached into her pocket. "I'm smart, too. A little hard disk recovery utility I like to use."

"I'm a bit more old-fashioned in my techniques," Graham said. "Pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, that sort of thing."

"And yet you still never caught the perp," I teased, shaking my head at him. "Honestly, where would we be without you, Sheriff?"

"Watch it, Parker," Graham said as he turned around and pointed a finger at me. "I can still shut your bar down in the blink of an eye."

"Oh, I'd really love to see you try."

"Huh," Emma spoke up. "There's a receipt for a . It's expensive. He has a credit card?"

"He's _ten_ ," Regina said as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

"Well, he used one," Emma said. "Let's pull up a transaction record." Emma clicked on something, and a name popped up.

"Mary Margaret Blanchard," Emma read. "Who's Mary Margaret Blanchard?

"Henry's teacher," Regina answered.

* * *

Emma and I trailed behind as Regina marched into the classroom of Mary Margaret Blanchard. We had to be careful and walk around the children that were going outside, but we made it to the room.

"Listen, I'm sorry for dragging you into this," Emma said to me as we waited behind as Regina talked to Mary Margaret. "And I'll pay you back for that charge."

I shook my head. "It's fine, really. All I was thinking was, 'What if it were my kid'?" I said. "I have a daughter. She's a few years younger than Henry, though."

Our conversation was cut off by Regina loudly saying, "Did you give him your credit card so he can find _her_?" She pointed at Emma.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Mary Margaret asked.

"I'm his...I'm his..." Emma struggled with the words.

"The woman who gave him up for adoption," Regina abruptly cut her off.

Mary Margaret looked between the two of them before slipping her purse off of her shoulder to look through it.

"You don't know anything about this, do you?" Emma asked her.

"No, unfortunately not," She answered, looking through her wallet. She smiled ruefully. "Clever boy. I should never have given him that book."

"What in the hell is this book I keep hearing about?" Regina demanded to know.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "His fairytale book?" I asked.

Emma looked over at me in surprise. " _You_ know about that book?"

"Yeah, I found him showing it to Liv-my daughter," I answered.

"Just some old stories I gave him," Mary Margaret said innocently. "As you well know, Henry is a special boy. So smart, so creative, and as you might be aware...lonely." She gave Regina an icy glare. "He needed it."

"What he _needs_ is a dose of reality," Regina argued. "This is a waste of time." Regina spun on her heel and began walking away, purposefully knocking over a stack of books. "Have a nice trip back to Boston," She said to Emma as she walked out the door.

Emma and I bent over to help Mary Margaret pick up the books that Regina knocked over. "Sorry to bother you," Emma said.

"No, it's..." Mary Margaret took a look at Emma, before snapping back into attention. "It's okay. I fear this is partially my fault."

"How's a book supposed to help?" Emma asked.

"What do you think stories are for?" Mary Margaret asked as we all stood up. I put my own stack back on to the desk as Mary Margaret balanced the rest of them in her arms. "These stories...the classics?" She put the books down on one of the desks. "There's a reason we all know them. They're a way for us to deal with our world, a world that doesn't always make sense."

Automatically, I fell into stride with Emma and Mary Margaret as we began walking out the door.

"See, Henry hasn't had the easiest life," Mary Margaret continued.

"Yeah, she's kind of a hard ass," Emma admitted.

"I couldn't imagine leaving my own kid in her care," I said as we got to the hallway. Livvy wouldn't make it two seconds being babysat by Regina.

"No, it's more than her," Mary Margaret said. "He's like any adopted child. He wrestles with the most basic question they all inevitably face-'Why would anyone give me away'?"

I winced at Mary Margaret's bluntness. Emma did too, and Mary Margaret instantly apologized. "I am so sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean in any way to judge you."

Emma's face had turned a little stone, but she said, "It's okay."

"Look, I gave the book to him because I wanted Henry to have the most important thing anyone _can_ have..." Mary Margaret trailed off. "Hope. Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing."

"You know where he is, don't you?" Emma asked.

"You might want to check his castle," Mary Margaret said.

My face brightened as I turned to Emma. "I know where that is."

* * *

Since Sheriff Graham confiscated Emma's car and we didn't have the time to go back for it, Emma and I drove in my car.

"Thanks for this," Emma said to me, and I looked over at her.

I smiled. "Like I said, if it were my kid..."

"No, it's _more_ than that," Emma insisted. "I barely know you, and already you've done more for me than anyone has in my entire life. So, seriously, thank you."

We came to a stop. Henry's castle was by the water, so I had to park a little bit away from the docks. Emma fiddled with the Once Upon a Time book in her hands. I nodded my head. "Go get him."

Emma looked at me in confusion. "You're not coming with me?"

I nodded my head at the clock on my dashboard. "Emma, I have to get to work. Besides, he's _your_ kid." I shrugged my shoulders a little. "I don't think he wants to listen to anyone but you right now."

I leaned over Emma's lap to get to the compartment that was in front of her. I pulled out a notepad and a pen that I had in there and scribbled down my cell phone number. "Now, if you need a ride back to the Sheriff's Office to get your car back, call me." I ripped the piece of paper with my number on it and held it out to her. "And if you need anything else, don't hesitate to call."

Emma looked from me, to the paper in my hand, and back to me as she reached out and took the slip from my hand. "I'll keep that in mind." She took a deep breath, turned to her door, and opened, getting out and shutting the passenger door behind her. I waited until she was at the castle and then drove to work. I wanted to think that that was going to be the last time I saw Emma Swan, but there was this feeling in my gut that it wasn't.

* * *

Emma Swan approached her kid slowly. She climbed the steps of his "castle" and sat down next to him, putting the book in his lap. "You left this in my car."

Henry took it, but still didn't look at his birth mother. His gaze was elsewhere.

Emma followed it and saw that he was looking at the town clock tower. "Still hasn't moved, huh?" Emma asked.

"I was hoping that when I brought you back, things would change here, that the final battle would begin," Henry admitted.

"I'm not fighting any battles, kid," Emma refused.

Henry finally looked over at Emma. "Yes, you are. You and Rosie, you're supposed to fight them together because it's your destiny. Rosie is gonna help you bring back the happy endings."

"Can you cut it with the book crap-wait, did you say Rosie?" Emma asked, thinking back to the brunette bartender that had helped her.

Henry nodded. "She's Light. She's supposed to help you break the curse," He said. "The book says that when the two of you met, the Earth was supposed to shake and that the two of you would intertwine magically. Did it? Did you?"

Emma thought back to the moment that she had met Rosie Parker for the first time. Come to think of it, when she had first laid eyes on Rosie, she felt like she was going to be sick. She was just overwhelmed with the urge, and she watched as she and Rosie both collapsed to the ground at the same time. And the ground _was_ shaking, wasn't it? Emma shook her head. What was she actually thinking? "It's all fairytale junk," She said to Henry.

"You don't have to be hostile," the young boy said. "I know you like me. I can tell. You're just pushing me away because I make you feel guilty. It's okay. I know why you gave me away. You wanted to give me my best chance."

Emma hated to admit it, but Henry was right about every single one of those things. She turned and looked back at the clock, Henry's gaze burning a hole in the side of her face. "How do you know that?"

"It's the same reason why Snow White gave _you_ away," Henry said.

Emma scoffed. "Listen to me, kid. I am not in any book. Rosie is not in any book. We're real people. And I'm no saviour." Tears began lightly falling from Emma's eyes. "I wanted you to have your best chance. But it's not with me."

At that point, Henry had started to choke up too, and Emma knew that it was time to leave. "Come on. Let's go."

" _Please_ don't take me back there!" Henry begged. "Just stay with me for one week, that's all I ask! One week, and you'll see why I'm not crazy."

"I have to get you back to your Mom," Emma explained.

"Then I'll just go to Rosie!"

"Kid, you know as well as I do that Rosie will just take you to your Mom, too," Emma said, trying to be sympathetic.

"You don't know what it's like with her!" Henry exclaimed. "My life _sucks_!"

"Oh, you want to know what sucking is?" Emma challenged. "Being left abandoned on the side of a freeway! My parents didn't even bother dropping me off at a hospital. I ended up in the foster system and I had a family until I was three but then they had their own kid so they sent me back." Emma sniffled, trying to compose herself. She bent over so that she was at Henry's eye level. "Look. Your Mom is trying her best. I know it's hard, and I know sometimes you think that she doesn't love you but at least she _wants_ you."

"Your parents didn't leave you on the side of the freeway," Henry tried explaining. "That's just where you came through."

"What?"

"The wardrobe. When you went through the wardrobe, you appeared in the street," Henry said. "Your parents were trying to save you from the curse!"

"Sure they were," Emma chuckled, amusing the boy. "Come on, Henry."

Emma turned around to start walking, and Henry slipped his hand into hers.

* * *

I handed a customer their drink and wiped the sweat off my forehead using my arm. Suddenly, my cell phone rang, and I reached into my pocket to take it out. "Hello?" I said, a little confused as to why anybody would be calling me while I was still at work.

"Rosie? This _is_ Rosie, right?" Emma's voice came through my phone. "I dialed the right number?"

"Yeah, you do," I said. "What's up, Emma? Do you need me to come pick you up?"

"Actually, I want to take you up on your _other_ offer," She said, and I scrunched my eyebrows in a bit of confusion.

* * *

"I'm sorry I don't have a better accommodation for you," I said to Emma as I walked in, carrying two bed pillows and a blanket. Emma was helping Liv take the pillows off of the couch.

"Considering it's a lot more than I thought I was going to get, it's perfect," Emma said.

I went over to the spot on my couch where the cushions used to be, and Emma helped me pull out the bed part of the couch. "I only bought this couch because it was at a yard sale and I really needed a couch," I groaned as I put it down on the ground. "Never thought I'd _actually_ be using the bed part of it."

"Listen, I'm really sorry for just intruding like this," Emma said. "I just didn't know anyone else-"

I put a hand up to stop her. "Emma, really, it's fine." Liv came up to me and grabbed my leg. I put my hand on top of her head. "Our home is your home. Stay as long as you need to."

"I was thinking just a week," Emma answered. "A week is all I need."

I nodded. "Okay." I looked her up and down, trying to judge her clothes size. "We seem to be about the same size. You can just borrow my clothes for now."

"Can I ask you a question?" Emma said. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

I lifted a shoulder. "I don't know. I guess...I just... _feel something_ , you know? There's just something in me telling me to help you. But I'm glad I am."

Emma hesitantly smiled a bit. "I am too. And I can't thank you enough."

"You're welcome," I said. "Now, I think we should all get to bed. We all have a very long day tomorrow."

* * *

 **TBC...**

 **This season will focus more on Rosie and Emma's friendship, as Rosie is Light and Emma is the Saviour, so the two of them have to be really close in order to work together.**

 **Let me know what you think of the chapter!**

* * *

 _ **Review Responses...**_

 **SophieElizabeth630:** Thank you! I'm a huge Captain Swan shipper myself, though I do enjoy the Hook/OC stories too, just to see what it'd be like. Thanks for the lovely review!

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 **grapejuice101** : Thank you! Update for you!

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 **WriteToEscapeReality1309:** Hey, destroying lives is what I'm here for! :) If you're already shipping Rosie and Hook now, wait till you see how they interact! I'm going to reveal some Rosie and Hook Enchanted Forests scene in this season as well, and Henry and Liv are definitely gonna have a nice friendship. In the later seasons when Henry gets old enough he's gonna babysit Liv a lot. Thanks for the amazing review!

 **Guest 1** : Wow, thank you! You have no idea how much of an honour it is for you to say that my OC is enjoyable! I always want my readers to walk away loving my OC and the story. I thought it'd be interesting to include a kid in this fanfic to provide more of a challenge. Rosie is an OC that I've never written before. I usually write about teenagers, but Rosie is a grown woman with a child who's experienced major things in her life. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this update!

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* * *

 **REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	3. The Thing You Love Most

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Once Upon a Time! I only own my OC, Rosaline "Rosie" Blanche Parker, and any other characters and plot lines I make up along the way!

 **Author's Note:** Here's another update!

 _Italics_ are scenes shown in the Enchanted Forest, and _**Bold Italics**_ are scenes that are a part of Rosie's life in the Enchanted Forest!

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

When Emma Swan woke up the next morning, she felt strange. Like, someone-or some _thing_ -was watching her. Sure enough, when she opened her eyes, she saw Rosie Parker's daughter eyeing her precariously. Emma couldn't help the small gasp that escaped her, and the sound was enough to draw Rosie, holding a bowl filled with pancake batter, into the living room.

"Liv, what did I say about letting Emma have some privacy?" Rosie said to her daughter. She tapped her foot. "Come here."

Liv ran over to her mother, and Rosie put her hand on Liv's head as she said, "Go finish getting ready for school." As Liv pounded up the stairs, Rosie turned to Emma. "Did you sleep well?"

Emma nodded, sitting up as she stretched. "Surprisingly well, considering this is a couch bed."

Rosie wrinkled her face in apology. "Like I said before, I'm sorry I don't have better accommodations for you."

Emma shook her head. She was hoping not to get into the habit of making Rosie feel bad over thing she had no control over. "And like _I_ said, I'm sorry for intruding."

Rosie smiled at her. "It's fine. Do you want breakfast? If you don't want smiley face pancakes, I can make you eggs and toast."

Emma nodded. "Eggs and coffee would be great, thanks. I'll pay you back for all the food I'm eating."

Rosie rolled her eyes at Emma. "I mean it, Emma, it's fine. Just get up and get ready for the day."

Rosie turned around and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Emma still sitting on the couch bed. Emma was very weirded out by the strange... _connection_ , that she felt with Rosie. First, when she met the woman, there was an earthquake. Then, when she got into the car accident, Rosie was the only name she could think of to bail her out. And now with Regina threatening her to stay out of Storybrooke making Emma want to _stay_ in Storybrooke, Rosie was the first person Emma thought of when she needed help. As nice and generous as Rosie was, Emma was hoping not to be _too_ dependent on her and was determined to keep that promise, starting with paying her back for the fine she paid for Emma and Emma getting clothes of her own so she didn't have to borrow Rosie's.

Emma was brought out of her thoughts when the doorbell rang, and Rosie called out for her to answer it. Emma pushed the sheets off of her as she walked over to the door. When she opened it, Regina Mills was standing on the other side, holding a basket of apples in her arms.

Regina smiled sweetly as she said, "Did you know the honey crisp tree is the most vigorous and hardy of all apple trees?"

When Emma made a face, Regina continued with her explanation. "It can survive temperatures as low as forty below and keep growing. It can weather any storm. I have one that I've tended to since I was a little girl and to this day, I have yet to taste anything more delicious than the fruit it offers." Regina reached into the basket and pulled out an impossibly perfect apple.

"Thanks," Emma said in bewilderment as she took the apple from her hand.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy them on your drive home," Regina said as she held the basket out to Emma.

"Actually, I'm gonna stay for a while," Emma informed her.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Regina practically bit with a stony expression on her face. "Henry has enough issues, he doesn't need you confusing him."

"All due respect, Madame Mayor," Emma began. "The fact that you have now threatened me twice in the last twelve hours makes me want to stay more."

"Since when were apples a threat?" Regina asked sweetly.

"I can read between the lines," Emma retorted. "Sorry. I just want to make sure Henry's okay."

"He's fine, dear," Regina assured her. "Any problems he has are being taken care of."

"What does _that_ mean?" Emma asked.

"It means I have him in therapy," Regina replied. "It's all under control. Take my advice, Ms. Swan, only one of us knows what's best for Henry."

Emma eyed Regina. "Yeah, I'm starting to think you're right about that."

Regina bit back a growl as she said, "It's time for you to go."

"Or what?" Emma challenged.

Regina took a threatening step towards Emma. "Don't underestimate me, Ms. Swan. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

"Emma?" Rosie called out as she walked towards the front door. "Who's at the door?" Rosie didn't have to get an answer as she saw Regina. "Mayor Mills! What are you doing here so early?"

Emma noticed that Regina's previous ice melted away instantly when Rosie came in. "I was just wondering when Ms. Swan was going to be hitting the road. I brought her some apples for the trip."

"Oh, that won't be necessary," Rosie waved away, and Emma was impressed with how flippant she was acting with Regina. "Emma will be staying with me for a little bit while she deals with some unfinished business in town." Rosie clapped her hands. "Now, I'm sure you're a busy woman, Ms. Mills, as are Emma and I, and, not to give the impression of kicking you out, but we'd appreciate if you left so we can get ready for our day."

Regina plastered a tight smile on her face as she held out the basket of apples. "Regardless, I still brought these for Emma. I'd appreciate if you accepted them."

Rosie reached over and grabbed them. "Thank you very much, Ms. Mills. I will be meeting with you soon to discuss the catering of your next party."

"Have a good day," Regina dismissed. As she turned around to leave, she gave Emma one last threatening look and sauntered away.

"You too!" Rosie called out after her as she shut the door.

Emma turned to face her temporary room mate. "How did you just do that?"

Rosie shrugged. "When you work as a bartender, it gets really easy kicking people out." She looked down at the apples. "We are _not_ eating these."

"Why not?" Emma asked. She looked at the apples. "They look perfectly fine to me."

"Regina gave me one before," Rosie explained. "And Henry practically snatched it from my hand and threw it away. Told me never to eat one. I don't know what his deal is, but kids have better gut instincts." She walked over to the trash can, lifted the lid, and tossed the apples out.

* * *

 _"Charming, we have to find this other girl," Snow White stressed to her husband, putting her hands to her stomach where her baby girl laid. "If she can help Emma with whatever Regina's doing-"_

 _"-Maybe she'll know to look for Emma," Charming finished as he paced their bedroom floor. "What did Rumplestiltskin say?"_

 _Snow racked her brain, thinking of what the deranged warlock had said. "That she wasn't a child by any means," Snow White thought._

 _"That means she must be an adult," Charming added. "Okay...what else?"_

 _Snow tried thinking again, her thoughts being interrupted by the kicking in her stomach. "It's okay, Emma," Snow said to her baby, sensing that she was getting nervous by all of this._

 _Charming went over to the rocking chair his wife was in, kneeling down next to her so that he was in front of her and the baby. "He said that she was born of extreme light magic," Charming remembered._

 _The word clicked in Snow's mind. "Light," She murmured. She couldn't quite put her finger on the name, but it was on the tip of her tongue. "Didn't her name have something to do with light?"_

 _Charming began thinking as hard as he could. He was determined to keep his family safe and if the only way to do that was to find this other girl, then damn it that was what he was going to do._

 _Light...light...light..._

 _It hit both of them at the same time. "Rosaline Blanche!"_

* * *

After dropping Liv off at school and Emma saying that she was going to go explore the town a little, I made my way to work. I know it sounded weird, but I felt so at home in the atmosphere of the noisy bar, where people were drinking and eating and laughing and having fun. I had gotten there early to do a little clean up and inventory and then opened the place up at one.

No later than an hour, I got a call on my cell phone. I stepped away from the lunch rush as I answered it, "Hello?"

"Rosie? It's Sheriff Graham," Graham greeted.

I made a noise of exasperation. "Sheriff, do you see _me_ calling you when you're at work?"

"I'm the Sheriff? People are _supposed_ to call me?" Graham teased.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, if they need an emergency, not during the lunch rush."

"Well, this _is_ an emergency," Graham insisted. "I have Emma Swan down here at the station."

My face wrinkled in disbelief. " _Again_?"

* * *

I stood before Emma at the police station. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"I'm being set up," Emma insisted, holding up her handcuffed hands. "By Regina! I mean, you saw how sketchy she was acting this morning when she dropped off those apples. How did she even know that I was staying with you?"

I turned to Graham. "How much to bail her out?"

The door opened, and we all turned to see Henry and Mary Margaret rushing in. "Hey!" Henry called.

"Henry, what are you doing here?" Graham asked.

"His mother told him what happened," Mary Margaret explained.

"Of course she did," Emma said, sharing a look with Graham. She turned back to her son and walked over to him. "Henry, I don't know what she said-"

"You're a genius!" Henry praised.

"What?" Emma asked in surprise.

"I know what you were up to," Henry explained. "You were gathering intel for Operation Cobra?"

"I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost," Graham thought aloud.

"It's need-to-know, Sheriff," Henry said to him, and I couldn't help the grin that crossed my face at the look on Graham's face. "And all _you_ need to know is that Ms. Blanchard's gonna bail her out."

"You are? Why?" Emma and I both asked at the same time.

"I, uh, trust you," Mary Margaret said.

"Well, if you can uncuff me, I have something to do," Emma said, turning to Graham.

I blew my bangs out of my face. "Well, Ms. Blanchard, let's get our payment options sorted out."

* * *

 _ **"The King and Queen?" My husband, Merlin, repeated as he held our daughter in his arms.**_

 _ **"The King and Queen!" I squealed, bouncing on the heels of my feet. "Well, Snow White and Pince David."**_

 _ **"What does the letter say?" Merlin asked as he walked over to me, putting Olivia down, who rushed for her toys that littered the floor of our small home.**_

 _ **"'Dear Ms. Rosaline Blanche,'" I read aloud as Merlin leaned over my shoulder. "'We request that you make your prescence to the castle as soon as conventiently possible. There is something we wish to discuss with you. Signed, Queen Snow and King David'."**_

 _ **"Are you going to go?" Merlin asked.**_

 _ **I gave him a look. "I have to! Isn't this a summoning?"**_

 _ **"What do you think they want with you?" He asked as he leaned back on our table.**_

 _ **I shook my head, but I wasn't able to contain my excitement. "I don't know. But if the King and Queen are taking their precious time to find some nobody like me, then it must be quite important."**_

* * *

"You _seriously_ cut down her apple tree?" I asked with a laugh.

Emma shrugged, a grin spreading across her face. "She made her move. I made mine. Now, it's her turn, and personally, I can't wait to see what she comes up with," Emma said as she lifted up her glass of Corona Light to her lips.

I started wiping down the bar that separated the two of us. "So are you gonna tell me how many times you plan on getting arrested? Just to know if I have to dip into my savings to bail you out."

Emma made a face. "I'm not planning on getting arrested again, if that's what you're asking. Besides, Regina set me up."

"Why would she want to do that?" I asked as a customer slipped into one of the other seats and asked for a Bloody Mary.

"She is not comfortable with me around Henry," Emma said. "It's why she's been threatening me to leave town, like this morning."

I paused in making the drink. "She threatened you this morning?"

Emma nodded. "When she came 'round to your place this morning. I went to visit Dr. Hopper-Henry's psychologist-and when I asked where his whole 'fairytale' thing stemmed from, he gave me Henry's files to look over. Next thing I know, Sheriff Graham showed up to your door telling me I was under arrest."

"Why didn't you deny him entrance?" I asked, going back to fixing the Bloody Mary. "You could have called me. I would have told him that he needed a search warrant before entering my house."

"Because denying it would make me look guilty," Emma answered, and I nodded as I thought over her words. She was right, of course.

"But you're still staying for Henry, right?" I asked as I slid the Bloody Mary to the customer, who lifted it to me in thanks.

She nodded, putting her chin in her hand. "There's something fishy about this town."

"Are you sure that's not just Henry planting ideas in your head?" I questioned.

"Do you believe the fairytale stuff he talks about?" Emma asked.

I shrugged a little. "He's a kid. When my daughter dresses up like Snow White, I humour her and tell her she's Snow White."

"No, I mean, for real," Emma reiterated. She leaned forward in her seat slightly. "Did he ever tell you who you were in his book?"

I racked my brain. "Come to think of it, no. I just heard him reading about Snow White and Prince Charming's story to Liv. She's been obsessed with Snow White ever since. She's her favourite princess." I made a bit of a face. "Why? Do you know who I am?"

Emma looked a little embarrassed. "He said you were Light. That you're supposed to help me break this curse on the town."

"A...curse?" I said slowly.

Emma nodded, then shook her head. "It's all in his book, though. I don't even know why I brought it up."

"If you want to talk about Henry and Regina, you can talk with me," I offered. "That's what friends are for, right?"

Emma looked up hesitantly. "We're friends?"

I gave her a bit of a "duh" look. "Well, I wouldn't let just anybody stay at my house with my four year old daughter."

Emma smiled at me, but her phone ringing interrupted our conversation. I gestured to it when she eyed it uneasily. "Go ahead, take it."

She answered it, lifting the phone up to her ear. "Yeah?" Emma looked over at me and mouthed, "It's Regina" before turning back to the conversation. "Oh, you have no idea," She determinedly said. She listened on the other line for a few more seconds before hanging up. She turned to face me, her blonde hair swinging over her shoulder. "Do you mind if I borrow your car? Mine's kind of...not usable."

I rolled my eyes but reached into my pocket and tossed her the keys. "As long as you're back in time to pick me up from work and to pick up Liv from daycare. Oh, and don't get arrested in it."

* * *

 _ **I was shaking a little bit as I raised my chin, walking towards the front of the castle. I told Merlin that since the summoning had told just me to come, that I was perfectly capable of going myself. I tied my horse to a tree and made my way to the front of the castle. I was dressed in my absolute best, a dress that Merlin had gotten as a present for me when he went overseas to a Kingdom called Arendelle.**_

 _ **I approached the guards, trying to conceal my quakes. I held out the letter. "I have a summoning from Queen Snow White and King David."**_

 _ **One of the guards snatched the letter out of my hand, making me flinch a little. He scanned the writing, and, apparently content with what was written, handed the letter back to me and motioned for the other guards to move out of the way. "You may enter," he permitted.**_

 _ **I curtsied politely and scurried into the castle before he could tell me no.**_

 _ **The whole palace looked even better than I could have ever dreamed.**_ **Why are they looking for someone like me?** _ **I wondered to myself as I drank in the sight of the luxurious setting.**_

 _ **"Ms. Blanche," I heard, and I spun around on my heel to come suddenly face to face with the King and Queen of the land.**_

 _ **I immediately dropped into a curtsy. "My Lady, my Lord," I said politely.**_

 _ **They both smiled at my formal act. "It is nice to finally meet you, Ms. Blanche," King David said as he walked down from the steps with Queen Snow, holding her hand as he helped guide her down the stairs. "But I fear we haven't heard much about you."**_

 _ **"I don't see why you would, your Majesty," I said to them as they approached me. I could feel my nervousnes begin to overcome me, so I kept talking before it could snap me into silence. "I am not a very significant person."**_

 _ **"But you are significant to us," Queen Snow said as she stopped in front of me. She suddenly reached forward and took my hands, surprising me by tugging me towards her. "You are very important to us."**_

 _ **"How?" I questioned.**_

 _ **King David took a deep breath. "The Evil Queen is coming up with a spell to curse everyone in the kingdom."**_

 _ **I gasped, bringing my hands to my lips. "That is awful!" I said. "What kind of curse?"**_

 _ **"The warlock Rumplestiltskin said that it's supposed to be a prison," Queen Snow answered. "But he also said that you're able to help."**_

 _ **"Me?" I questioned, bringing my finger to point at my chest. "I mean, of course I'll help in any way I can, but what would I do? I truly don't know of any counter spells. I'm not that good of a witch."**_

 _ **"Be that as it may," King David began. "Rumplestiltskin said that you'll be able to help our baby daughter break this curse using your magic."**_

 _ **"With all due respect, I said I wasn't very good," I repeated to him.**_

 _ **"Just, anything you can," Queen Snow said. "Please. Rumplestiltskin said that the two of your aren't to meet until her twenty eight birthday, anyways. Can you do this for us?" She reached forward and grabbed my hands again. "Please? This is for the good of the Kingdom, and of our child. Will you help her?"**_

 _ **The King and Queen were begging**_ **me** _ **for help. How could I refuse?**_

 _ **"I promise to help your child in everything that she does," I vowed.**_

* * *

"So, I've decided to stay longer than a week," Emma announced as she helped me set the table for dinner.

I grinned. "For Henry?"

Emma nodded, a bit shyly.

I nodded. "Good, he needs you," I said as I pointed at her. I looked over at the living room. "Well, I should get you better sheets, then."

"Actually, that's why I brought it up," Emma said, leaning against the kitchen counter. "I really appreciate you being so kind to me, but I think I'm gonna find a place."

I gave her a look. "Emma, you don't have to do that. You're perfectly welcome at my house."

"I know, and it's great," Emma said. "But I just don't want to feel like I owe you. I'm kind of a loner. I'm good at being by myself."

I moved to put my hand on her arm, but she recoiled slightly when she saw the motion, so I brought my arm back. "Emma, do you know what a friend _is_?"

Emma hesitated. "Well, I didn't have many growing up. I still really don't have many."

"You have one now," I said, pointing at myself. "Me. And friends help friends. Friends don't kick friends out on the street with no where to go. If Regina really does have it out for you, then Granny's Inn is out-Regina's practically got everyone around here wrapped around her finger. And it's practically impossible trying to find a space. Trust me, when I tried to find a bigger space for Liv and I, we couldn't find anything."

Emma's eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at me. "But Regina doesn't have you wrapped around her finger, does she? Otherwise, you would have kicked me out the second she figured out I was staying here."

I shrugged a little. "Everyone in town comes to my bar every day. I bring the town so much cash that the town would go bankrupt without me." Emma gave me a look, and I relented. "Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but I have a kid of my own. It'd look bad for her as the Mayor-and a mother herself-to kick a single mother out of her own home."

Emma nodded thoughtfully. "You really have everything planned out, don't you?"

I lifted a shoulder. "In this town, you have to. And, about staying here? You're staying."

"Rose..." Emma started, but I cut her off.

"Emma, as long as you have Henry in your life, you're not gonna be a loner," I said. "And it's okay to ask for help. Now, if you _really_ want to find another place to stay, you can stay here until you find another place. If you don't, you're still welcome here."

"We've known each other barely two days and you're acting like we've been best friends since we were kids," Emma pointed out.

"It sure feels like it," I said as I turned to the oven to pull out our dinner. "And what's so bad about it, huh? I don't have many friends either, Emma, and I'm kinda glad I have you."

A tiny hint of a smile tugged at Emma's mouth. "You're not that bad either."

* * *

After dinner, I saw Emma struggling to pull out the bed part of the couch. She must have sensed me in the doorway, because she turned her head. She blushed a little bashfully as she turned back to the couch. "Do you mind giving me a hand?" She asked, not looking at me.

I'd take it. "Of course," I said as I walked over to help her.

* * *

 **TBC...**

 **I am LOVING the feel of this story! I can't wait to get more into it!**

* * *

 _ **Review Responses...**_

 **grapejuice101:** Thank you! Here's another chapter!

 **VampirePrincess11:** Thanks so much! It means a lot to me!

 **WriteToEscapeReality:** Thank you so much! Like I said before, her flashbacks with Hook will come a little later, but they're still coming! I have some really good ones cooking! I revealed it so soon because I wanted to show that yes, Rosie had a life other than Hook, and that Hook wasn't the father of Liv, which was what some people might of thought. I don't know how I'm gonna make it work with season 5, but damn it, ABC, I came up with the idea of Merlin being Rosie's husband while this story was still an idea in my mind! And thank you! I haven't seen anything like the Light and the Saviour prophecy before, so I thought it'd be a cool idea! I means so much to me that Rosie and Emma are your #1 girlTP! (Yes it's a thing we've decided now LOL). I've always wanted Emma to have a really good girl friend (whom she found in Elsa, but then Elsa left) and I thought, why not do this? I hope you also liked the little idea of Rosie promising to always help Emma, which helps explain her determination to do so. Since the first season is really gonna focus on how the Light and the Saviour work togther, I wanted to show how Emma feels and what she thinks too, so we're probably going to see more of that. I also wanted to show how they're going to get along. That being said, they'll still have arguments and differences and stuff, but hey, what friends don't?

 **LindySwan'97:** You don't know how much it means to me that you think that! I always want people walking away liking my stories. And this story is getting me through the hiatus too! LOL. I really appreciate you saying that about Rosie, because I don't want her seeming TOO Mary Sue-ish and if you could tell me where she seems like it and where I could improve I'd very much appreciate it! And I love the banter between her and Graham too! It's a really harmless flirting thing that I think is a lot of fun to write. I was trying to think of a face claim, but I can't really think of anything! The closest is maybe Nina Dobrev, just a little older looking. Here's another update and I hope you loved it!

 **Guest 1:** Yay! Love love LOVE the pun, and here's your update!

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	4. Snow Falls

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Once Upon a Time! I only own my OC, Rosaline "Rosie" Blanche Parker, and any other characters and plot lines I make up along the way!

 **Author's Note:** I didn't get the amount of reviews I was hoping for last chapter, so can we get more reviews for this one please?

And forty followers? Holy crap!

 _Italics_ are scenes shown in the Enchanted Forest, and _**Bold Italics**_ are scenes that are a part of Rosie's life in the Enchanted Forest!

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Emma was helping me make dinner when we realized that we had no milk. She offered to stay at home with Liv (though she seemed a little uncomfortable with the thought) while I went down to the grocery store to grab some. Luckily for me, it was still open, so I got my milk and had begun my drive home when I saw Mary Margaret walking down the street. I slowed down as I pulled next to her. "Mary Margaret Blanchard," I said as I lowered the window. Mary Margaret smiled a little when she saw me.

"Why are you out so late?" I asked when I came to a stop.

"Well, I'm a teacher, not a nun," She joked. "I had a date."

"I'm guessing it went well?" I said.

"As well as they ever do," Mary Margaret answered.

"Did he at least pay?" I asked.

Mary Margaret winced as she shook her head. "No."

"Ooh, that's bad," I sympathized with her.

"Well, guess if true love was easy, we'd all have it," Mary Margaret said.

"Ain't that the truth," I mumbled to myself. I cleared my throat and turned back to her. "Listen, do you want to come have dinner with Emma and I? We've got enough for four."

Mary Margaret smiled but shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'd hate to intrude."

"Are you sure?" I asked, and she nodded. "Well, at least let me drive you home."

"I don't live that far from here," Mary Margaret said. "Really, Rosie, it's fine."

"If you're sure..." I said slowly.

She nodded again. "I'm positive."

"Okay then," I gave up. "Have a good night."

"You too," She said as I rolled the window up and drove home.

* * *

Emma joined Henry at his castle by the water, who very clearly was eager to tell Emma something.

"I found your father – Prince Charming," Henry said as he opened the Once Upon a Time book.

"Henry…" Emma tried.

"He's in the hospital, in a coma." Henry tilted the book to show Emma. "See the scar? He has one, too."

"So? Lots of people have scars," Emma said, not impressed.

"In the same place?" Henry asked doubtfully. "Don't you see what this means? The curse is keeping them apart with the coma. Now they're stuck without each other. We have to tell Miss Blanchard we found her Prince Charming."

"Okay, kid," Emma started. "Telling someone their...soulmate is in a coma is probably not helpful. Not having a happy ending is painful enough, but giving someone unrealistic hope is far worse."

"But what if I'm right?" Henry asked. " _We_ know who they are. And if we get Rosie to believe, we'll have that on our side too. They have to know."

"And how do you intend to make that happen?" Emma asked.

"By reminding him," Henry suggested. "We have to get Miss Blanchard to read their story to John Doe. Then, maybe, he'll remember who he is."

Emma sighed, but relented. "Okay."

"Okay?" Henry asked, surprised that Emma had given in so easily.

"Yeah, we'll do it. But we'll do it my way. Let _me_ ask her," Emma said to him.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Henry wants to do _what_?" I asked as Emma sat down across from me at work.

"He thinks that by Mary Margaret reading to this John Doe will help him remember who he was," Emma said.

"Are you just humouring him?" I questioned as I wiped down the table in front of me.

Emma rolled her eyes at me. "Of course I am. I just want to see if I can get him out of this delusion. And I kind of need your help to do it."

"Why?" I asked.

"He seems to think that if the two of us work together then everything will be okay," She explained. "Please? Help me?"

I huffed as I studied the pleading look on Emma's face. I sighed, blowing hair out of my lips. "Fine! Fine. What do you need me to do?"

* * *

I drove Emma and I to Mary Margaret's apartment and when she let us in, she offered to make us cocoa.

We explained the situation to her, and she scrunched up her eyebrows as she handed each of us a cup of cocoa. "You want me to read to a coma patient?" She asked.

"Henry thinks it will help him remember who he was," Emma explained.

"And, who does he think he was?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Prince Charming," I told her.

"And if I'm Snow White, he thinks me…and him…" Mary Margaret trailed off.

"He has a very active imagination, which is the point," Emma supplied. "I can't talk him out of his beliefs, so we need to show him. Play along, do what he says and maybe, just maybe..."

"He'll see that fairy tales are just that," Mary Margaret finished. "That there's no such thing as love at first sight or first kiss. He'll see reality."

"Something like that," Emma allowed.

"Well, sadly this plan is rather genius. We get him to the truth without hurting him," She said.

"Emma told him that we're all going to Granny's tomorrow for breakfast," I said as I blew on my cocoa before taking a sip. "And you will give a full report."

"Well, I suppose I'll get ready for my date. I guess I'll have to do all the talking," Mary Margaret joked, and Emma and I couldn't help our smirks.

* * *

After dropping Liv off at daycare, Emma and I met up with Henry at Granny's.

A thought struck me as I eyed the kid sitting across from me. "Hey, Henry? Where does your Mom think you are?"

"Playing Whac-A-Mole," Henry answered.

Emma raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise. "And she bought that?"

Henry shrugged a little. "She wants to believe it, so she does."

"Oh, imagine that," Emma said a bit sarcastically, and I nudged her in the side a bit at her bluntness.

Mary Margaret entered the diner, and Henry eagerly looked up. "She's here."

"Hey, don't get your hopes up. We're just getting started, okay?" Emma reminded him. Emma looked over at Mary Margaret expectantly, to tell us that Henry was wrong so that he would forget about the fairy tale thing.

"He woke up," Mary Margaret said breathlessly when she got to us.

Emma and I exchanged bewildered looks before looking back at Mary Margaret. "What?" We both said at the same time.

Henry was practically beaming. "I knew it!" He said.

"I mean, he didn't 'wake up' wake up, but he grabbed my hand," Mary Margaret clarified.

"He's remembering!" Henry said, excitedly.

"What did the doctor say?" Emma asked.

"That I imagined it, but I'm not crazy. I know it happened," Mary Margaret insisted.

"We have to go back. You have to read to him again," Henry encouraged.

Mary Margaret considered this for a second before nodding. "Let's go."

The two of them got up to leave the diner, leaving Emma and I sitting there in confusion. We both shook our heads at each other as we slid out of the booth.

"Wait, wait what?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, what's going on?" I added.

"If I got through to him, if we made a connection-" Mary Margaret began.

"You don't believe…" Emma started.

"That he's Prince Charming?" Mary Margaret finished. "Of course not. Somehow, some way, I touched him." She turned around and ran out the door.

Emma and I shared incredulous looks before turning back to the door and running after Mary Margaret.

* * *

When we got to the hospital, Sheriff Graham was there, and Regina was in this John Doe's room.

"You're right – he's waking up!" Henry grinned.

Just as Henry tried going in, Graham put his hands on Henry's shoulders. "Henry, you should stay back."

"What's going on?" Mary Margaret asked. "Is it John Doe? Is he okay?"

"He's missing," Graham answered.

My face contorted into one of confusion. "Wait, what the hell do you mean 'missing'?" I asked. "Isn't he a comatose patient?"

Suddenly, we were interrupted by Regina marching over to us. "What the hell are you doing here?" She asked us, but she was mostly talking to Emma. She turned to Henry, grabbing his arm and yanking him forward. She leaned down to his eye level. "And you – I thought you were at the arcade. Now you're lying to me?"

"What happened to John Doe? Did someone take him?" Mary Margaret asked, getting straight to business.

"We don't know yet. His IVs were ripped out but there's no sign for sure there's a struggle," Graham informed us.

Henry turned to his adoptive mother. "What did you do?" He asked, an accusatory tone in his voice.

"You think _I_ had something to do with this?" Regina asked, surprised that her son was challenging her authority.

"It _is_ curious that the Mayor is here," Emma brought up.

"I'm here because I'm his emergency contact," Regina explained.

"You know him?" Mary Margaret asked, a confused tone in her voice.

"I found him. On the side of the road years ago with no ID. I brought him here," Regina revealed.

"Mayor Mills saved his life," Dr. Whale, one of the head doctors here, told us.

"Well, is he going to be okay?" Mary Margaret inquired.

"Okay?" Dr. Whale scoffed. "The man's been on feeding tubes for years on constant supervision. He needs to get back here right away or, quite honestly, 'okay' might be a pipe dream."

"Well then, let's quit yapping and start looking," Emma suggested.

"That's what we're doing?" Regina said, though it sounded like a question. "Just stay out of this, dear."

"'Stay out of this'?" I questioned. "We're looking for a comatose patient, Madame Mayor, we might as well organize a search party."

Regina gave me a mini glare. "You're a bar owner, not a detective. Let the professionals do their jobs." She turned back to Emma. "And since I clearly can't keep you away from my son, I guess I'm just going to have to keep my son away from you." She lookedo over to Graham. "Sheriff, find John Doe. You heard Dr. Whale. Time is precious."

Regina gave Emma and I a pointed glare, and she grabbed Henry's shoulders and left with him.

Emma and I exchanged looks of bewilderment before turning back to what Sheriff Graham and Dr. Whale were talking about.

"Doctor, how long between your rounds since you last saw him?" Graham asked him.

"Twelve hours or so," Dr. Whale answered.

"Then that's what we need to account for," Graham nodded.

* * *

We headed to the security room, where two hospital workers, Walter and Leroy were. Even though Regina said otherwise, I felt like I was morally obligated to help. People could live without their drinks for one day.

"You two were the only employees on the floor last night," Graham said. "And you saw nothing."

"Not a thing," Walter shook his head.

"Well, did anyone walk by here?" I asked.

"I didn't see nothin'," Leroy dismissed.

Graham sighed as he turned to Mary Margaret. "Miss Blanchard, was there anything unusual you saw during your trip with your class?"

"I don't think so," She answered.

"We're looking at the wrong tape," Emma insisted as she pointed at the screen. "This is the ward where Henry's class put up decorations. If this was really the tape from last night, we'd see the banners the kids hung."

"Tch, you fell asleep again," Leroy said to Walter, who I didn't even notice fell asleep.

"You selling me out?" Walter demanded.

"I ain't getting fired for this," Leroy said.

"At least I don't drink on the job," Walter retorted.

"We don't have the time for this!" I interrupted. "Do you bozos have the real tape or not?"

"I see you were going for subtly," Graham whispered in my ear as the two switched the tapes.

"Please, subtly is my middle name," I responded.

We all turned back to watch the correct tape. Somehow, John Doe got up and strolled right out the door, as if it was nothing.

"He walked out alone. He's okay," Mary Margaret breathed in relief.

"Four hours ago," Emma pointed out. She pointed at the screen. "Where does this door lead?"

"The woods," Leroy answered.

* * *

 _ **I grinned happily as Merlin and I walked through the forest. He held my hand tightly as we ventured out. He decided to take me out for a nice picnic, since I hadn't seen him for maybe a week because he went away to deal with some unfinished business.**_

 _ **I nearly screamed as I spotted a snake. I practically buried myself into Merlin's side as his arms went around me to catch me. "What's wrong?" He asked as he looked around.**_

 _ **"I-I saw a snake," I said, albeit slowly because I realized how foolish I sounded.**_

 _ **"It's just a snake," Merlin assured me. "I've seen lots of snakes in Camelot and trust me, there are a lot scarier snakes."**_

 _ **I helped Merlin set out a blanket. "Do you ever miss Camelot?"**_

 _ **Merlin shrugged a little. "I suppose so. I miss my friends there."**_

 _ **"Maybe we should return," I suggested as we sat down. "Go back for a visit. I mean, I've always wanted to see Camelot. And I don't think it's very fair that you had to move here because you met and fell in love with**_ **me** _ **."**_

 _ **Merlin smiled as he moved closer to me, putting his arm around my shoulders. "I think that's a very good idea. Have I told you that I loved you today?"**_

 _ **I smirked up at him. "You just did."**_

 _ **He leaned down to kiss me, and I was reaching up to meet him half way when I felt a sharp sting in my ankle. "Ow!" I screeched as I brought my leg up. I barely caught a glimpse of the snake from earlier as it slithered away. I brought my leg up so that I was looking at my ankle, and I saw two sharp incisions. I looked up and gave Merlin a glare.**_

 _ **"At least it's not poisonous!" He defended himself.**_

* * *

I squealed in disgust as I walked through the forest-y area of Storybrooke. I felt like everything was crawling all over me, especially at my ankles.

"Why so skittish?" Emma asked as she walked alongside me.

"I _hate_ the woods," I told her. "It gives me the creeps and makes me feel like I'm about to get bitten by a snake."

"Rest assured, I'm here to protect you," Graham said as he turned around to look at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh yeah, I feel safe all right."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Graham asked in an offensed tone.

I scoffed in disbelief. "You can't even locate someone who's _unconscious_."

"He can't be totally unconscious if he left the hospital on his own accord," Graham retorted. "Besides, what happened to you being 'naturally wild'?" he asked. He was mentioning a conversation that we'd had late at the bar once.

I gave him a look. "I didn't mean ' _neanderthal_ ' wild, Sheriff!"

We suddenly came to a stop when Graham stopped walking. "What is it?" Emma asked.

"The trail runs out here," Graham informed us.

"You sure? Because I thought tracking was one of your skills," Emma teased, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say she was attempting to flirt.

"Just give me a second," Graham assured her. "This is my world. I got it."

"Right. Sorry," Emma teased once again, and I gave her a look that said, "Well done".

"What does he mean, 'His world'?" Mary Margaret asked. "Isn't finding people your thing, too?"

Emma lifted a shoulder. "Sure. Just, people I find usually run places like Vegas. Not a lot hit the woods."

"That's an interesting job – finding people. How'd you fall into it?" Mary Margaret inquired.

"Looking for people is just what I've done. As long as I can remember," Emma answered.

"What made you start? Your parents?" Mary Margaret dug deeper. "Henry told me that your… Th-that you were from a similar situation to his own. Did you ever find them?"

"Depends who you ask," Emma said cryptically and before Mary Margaret could ask another question, a cracking sound from behind us alerted us to someone coming. We all turned around to see Henry running down the hill.

"Henry!" Mary Margaret exclaimed.

"Did you find him yet?" Henry asked.

I shook my head. "Nope, we got nothing, kid."

"You shouldn't be here," Emma said disapprovingly.

"I can help. I know where he's going," Henry insisted.

"And where's that?" Mary Margaret asked.

"He's looking for you," Henry answered. "You're the one who woke him up. You're the last one he saw. He wants to find you!"

"Henry, it's not about me," Mary Margaret tried explaining to him. "I just… I think he's lost and confused. He's been in a coma a long time."

"But he loves you! You need to stop chasing him, and let him find you," Henry implored.

Emma must have decided to change the subject because she said, "Kid. You need to go home. Where's your mom? She's going to kill me and then you…and then me again."

"She dropped me at the house. Then, went right out," Henry informed us.

"Regardless, you shouldn't leave the house when your Mom isn't home," I advised him. "Emma's right, we need to get you back."

"No!" Henry refused.

Our argument was interrupted by Graham, who exclaimed, "Guys!" before turning around and holding up a bloody hospital bracelet.

"Is that…" Mary Margaret began.

"Blood," Emma finished.

After we found something to further the trail, we continued our search to the Toll bridge.

"Where is he? Can you see him?" Mary Margaret asked.

"The trail dies at the water line," Graham responded.

Mary Margaret gasped deeply, and we all turned to see where she was looking. I followed her gaze to see it falling on a body, most likely this "John Doe" because I'd never seen him before.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" She breathed.

"I need an ambulance! At the old Toll Bridge, as soon as possible," Graham said into his radio, and Emma, Mary Margaret and I helped him drag John Doe to the shore.

"No, no, no, no, no! No, no, no! I found you!" Mary Margaret said desperately.

"It's going to be okay," Emma assured her.

"Help's coming," Graham added.

"Is he okay?" Henry asked as he ran over.

Emma looked up at him. "Henry…"

"Is he going to be okay?" Henry repeated.

The sight of a tattered body wasn't pretty, so I stood up and walked over to Henry. "Hey, don't look. It's okay, help is coming for him."

"Come back to us. Come back to me," Mary Margaret pleaded. She began doing CPR on him and when she put her mouth on his, he took a deep breath in and began coughing up water.

"You saved me," John Doe said in amazement, once all the water had left his lungs.

"She did it. She did it! She woke him up!" Henry said excitedly.

Emma couldn't help but smile at her son. "Yeah, kid. She did."

"Thank you," John Doe said to her.

"Who are you?" Mary Margaret asked.

His face contorted. "I don't know."

Mary Margaret still looked concerned, but she just shook her head as she told him, "It's okay. You're going to be okay."

* * *

When we got back to the hospital, I was surprised to see Livvy there with my friend Kalina. "Liv?" I asked as she ran over to me. She jumped into my arms, and I picked her up as I turned to Kalina. "Why is she here? Why are _you_ here?"

Kalina shrugged a little. "You didn't come at the scheduled time to pick up Liv. She got antsy, so we asked around to see where you were. People said that the last place they saw you was the hospital. So, we came here to wait for you."

"That was really nice of you," I told her. "I'll pay for the gas that you used looking for me."

Kalina waved me off. "It's fine. I should get back to my place though. Taylor is looking after Kai right now, and, well, Taylor isn't the best baby sitter."

I waved goodbye to her when I felt someone push past me. I nearly lost my balance as I turned around. "Hey!" I called after the blonde woman who had pushed me. She ignored me as she ran over to John Doe's room. I followed her, but I had to wait outside of the room where the others (Mary Margaret, Graham, Henry, and Emma) were.

"Who is that?" Mary Margaret asked.

"His wife," A new voice said, and we all turned around to see Regina walking over to us.

I set Liv on the ground, and she took a seat next to Henry on the little bench that was there as Regina continued speaking. "His name is David Nolan. And that's his wife, Kathryn. And the joy on her face, well, it's put me in quite the forgiving mood." She shifted her attention to Henry. "We'll talk about your insubordination later. Do you know what insubordination means?" Henry shook his head. "It means you're grounded."

Kathryn walked out of David's room and turned to Mary Margaret. "Thank you. Thank you for finding my David."

"Um, I-I don't understand," Mary Margaret said, and I was right with her on that. "You didn't… You didn't know that he was here in a coma?"

"A few years ago, David and I were...not getting along," Kathryn started. "It was my fault, I know that now. I was difficult and unsupportive. I told him if he didn't like things, he could leave. And he did. And I didn't stop him. It was the worst mistake I ever made."

"You didn't go look for him?" Emma asked as she leaned forward in her chair.

"I assumed he'd left town all this time," Kathryn explained. "And now I know why I never heard from him. Now I get to do what I've wanted to do forever – say 'I'm sorry'. Now we get a second chance."

"That's wonderful," Mary Margaret said, putting a brave smile on her face. But anyone who knew her (even though I didn't _really_ ) would know that behind that smile was a lot of pain. But pain, I wouldn't know why. I guess it had to do with that connection she felt with him,

"Well, it's something of a miracle," Dr. Whale said as he stepped out of David's room.

"He's okay?" Kathryn asked hopefully.

"Ah, physically, he's on the mend, um, his memory is another issue. It may take time, if at all," Dr. Whale explained to us.

"What brought him back?" Mary Margaret asked.

"That's the thing. There's no explanation. Something just clicked in him," Dr. Whale said.

"He just got up and decided to go for a stroll?" Emma asked.

"Probably realized that hospital life was too boring," I said, and Emma gave me a pointed look at my bluntness.

"He woke up and he was delirious and his first instinct was to go find something, I guess," Dr. Whale offered.

"Some _one_ ," Henry corrected.

"Can I see him?" Kathryn asked.

"Yeah, of course," Dr. Whale answered, opening the door for Kathryn to go in.

"Henry, let's go," Regina said, walking over to the front desk.

Henry got up to follow her but stopped in his tracks. "Wait, my backpack!" He grabbed it and turned to Mary Margaret, whispering, "Don't believe them. You're the one he was looking for."

"Henry…" Mary Margaret started.

"He was going to the Troll Bridge. It's like the end of the story," Henry insisted.

"Henry, he was going there because it's the last thing I read to him," Mary Margaret tried again.

"No, it's because you _belong_ together," Henry said, and when Regina called for him one last time, he went with her.

Emma got up and ran after them after a minute, and I turned to Mary Margaret. She was looking longingly at David, and the pain was etched into her face.

I couldn't stand seeing her so sad any longer, so the words slipped past my mouth before I could even process them properly. "Do you want to spend the night at my place?"

Mary Margaret snapped her attention away from David to look at me in confusion. "What?" She asked.

I blushed a little at my blurt. "I just mean...you look a little sad and I don't think it'd be the best idea for you to be alone right now. I mean, you barely know this David guy but I just thought maybe we could get a pizza, some ice cream-"

Mary Margaret could obviously tell that I was struggling with this, because she laughed a little before nodding her head. "Yeah. I'd really like that. Thanks, Rosie."

I smiled at her as Liv got up from her chair and ran over to me, grabbing my legs. "You're welcome, Mary Margaret."

* * *

 **TBC...**

 **A few more reviews, please?**

* * *

 _ **Review Responses...**_

 **VampirePrincess11:** Thank you!

 **grapejuice101:** Thank you so much! Here's your update!

 **MilliePrue-BellatrixLestrange:** Thank you! It means a lot!

 **19emstreckenbach:** Thank you so much! I love Captain Swan as well! But I like the idea of OCs. Is it bad of me to think that I like that Rosie is giving you conflicted feels? Here's your update!

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	5. The Price of Gold, part 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Once Upon a Time! I only own my OC, Rosaline "Rosie" Blanche Parker, and any other characters and plot lines I make up along the way!

 **Author's Note:** If any of you are interested, I DO post chapter expectations/updates in my profile, so if you go there you'll see what's going to go on in the chapters of my stories!

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"No offence, but Ruby makes better cocoa than you do," Emma said as she licked her fingers free of excess whipped cream.

I rolled my eyes as I scooped some scrambled eggs on to my fork. "Are you telling me I shouldn't take offense from that sentence?"

Emma nodded. "Yup."

Emma, being the nice person that she was, offered to take me for breakfast at Granny's Diner because I refused to let her pay for any of the meals that I'd been cooking for her while she'd been staying at my place. She thought it was the only fair trade.

The door to Granny's opened, and Regina strolled in and took a seat next to me so that she was sitting across from Emma. "How was your walk with Henry?" She asked. I furrowed my eyebrows as I looked over at Emma. She had mentioned that she walked Henry to school this morning, but she didn't mention that Regina knew. "That's right – I know everything. But relax. I don't mind," Regina continued.

Emma looked at her funnily. "You don't?"

"No. Because you no longer worry me, Miss Swan," Regina said. "You see, I did a little digging into who you are. And what I found out was quite soothing. It all comes down to the number seven."

"Seven?" Emma questioned.

"It's the number of addresses you've had in the last decade," Regina explained. "Your longest in anywhere was two years. Really, what did you enjoy so much about Tallahassee?"

"If you hadn't realized, Emma's found a place to stay with me," I interjected.

"How long is your lease?" Regina asked Emma. "Oh, wait. You don't have one. You see my point? In order for something to grow, Miss Swan, it needs roots. And you? Don't have any. People don't change. They only fool themselves into believing they can."

"You don't know me," Emma insisted.

"No, I think I do. All I ask, is as you carry on your transient life, you think of Henry and what's best for him. Perhaps consider a clean break. It's going to happen anyway." Regina smirked. "Enjoy your cocoa."

She got up and left the diner. "Way to ruin a perfectly good meal," I murmured as I lowered my fork, losing my apetite.

Emma went to stand up but spilled her cocoa all over her shirt. "Oh! Really?" She grumbled.

"Still think Granny's cocoa is better?" I teased, and it earned me a half serious glare from Emma.

Ruby, Granny's granddaughter, came over and handed Emma a cloth. "Yeesh," She said, observing the mess.

"Do you have a laundry room I can use?" Emma asked. Ruby nodded, and Emma turned to me. "Sorry to cut our breakfast short. I'll make it up to you."

I shook my head and stood up. "It's fine. I'm just going to go home and maybe sleep a little more before I go into work. I'll see you later, Emma."

* * *

 _ **All the children of my village gathered to watch me do my magic once more. I smiled gleefully as they did as they watched me make it snow in the middle of the summer. The snowflakes fell from the sky in loads, and I laughed as they tried to catch them on their tongues.**_

 _ **I was suddenly interrupted by the shouts of parents. They called for their children and ran over to them. One of them grabbed the arm of their son and sneered at me, "Stay away from my son, witch!"**_

 _ **"But I wasn't-" I tried defending myself.**_

 _ **"Don't talk!" The man exclaimed. "You're nothing but a monster and I won't have you endangering my family. Do everyone a favour and disappear!" And with that, the man yanked his son away as the crowd dispelled.**_

 _ **I felt tears brimming my eyes as I turned around and ran into the forest. I had been given dirty looks and stern stares when I used my magic (especially around children) before but being yelled at like that had never happened. I put the back of my hand against my mouth as I tried not to burst into sobs. I collapsed against a tree and let myself cry.**_

 _ **Never had I felt so ashamed of my magic. No one else in my family had it. Just me. My mother always treated me like I was special, like my magic was the force of all that was good. But nobody thought the same as her. I'd even seen the suspision and even sometimes fear in my siblings eyes. I had felt embarrassed about my magic before, but I had never felt like I did now. People were making me out to be no good, nothing.**_

 _ **A monster.**_

 _ **I kept wiping at the tears that still flowed, even as I tried to stop them. It was then that I heard the familiar "swoosh" sound of magic, and I looked up to see a handkerchief in front of my face. My eyes travelled upwards to see a strange looking man was holding it.**_

 _ **"Now, now, dearie," He said as he shook the handkerchief gently. "There's no reason to cry. Take this, wipe your tears."**_

 _ **Albeit reluctantly, I took the handkerchief from the man's hand as he offered me his other hand. I took that as well, and he helped me stand up. "What is your name?"**_

 _ **"Rosaline," I answered as I gently mopped up my tears.**_

 _ **"My name is Rumplestiltskin," He introduced. "Why are you crying?"**_

 _ **I shook my head. "It's not worth mentioning. I'll be fine."**_

 _ **"You're not fine if you were crying," He insisted. "What ever is the matter?"**_

 _ **I took a shaky breath as I said, "I have magic."**_

 _ **"As do I," Rumplestiltskin replied. "What makes you so special?"**_

 _ **I shook my head again. "That's not what I mean. What I mean is that...people see me differently. They make me out to be this horrible monster when really...I'm not."**_

 _ **"What is it that you would like to do, Rosaline?" He asked.**_

 _ **I sighed as I looked down at the handkerchief that was stained with my tears in my hands. "I just want them to see what I really am."**_

 _ **Rumplestiltskin's lips stretched into a malicious grin. "That, I can help you with, child."**_

 _ **I brightened up a bit. "Really? You'd help me make them see sense?"**_

 _ **He nodded. "Indeed, I will." He held up a hand. "For a price, of course."**_

 _ **My previous excitement deflated. "I haven't any money," I said sadly.**_

 _ **Rumplestiltskin waved me off. "It is not your money I'm interested in. Should I do this for you, you'll owe me a favour."**_

 _ **"A favour?" I repeated.**_

 _ **He nodded ."Anything that I desire."**_

 _ **While this could have led me into deep trouble-or worse, a trap-I'd give anything to be looked upon as normal. "It's a deal."**_

 _ **He laughed maniacally as a long parchment of paper and a quill appeared in front of me. "To make it official, just sign here."**_

 _ **I took the quill that was suspended in mid air and signed my name on the dotted line.**_

 _ **The parchment disappeared from underneath me, as did the quill from my hand. "This is where the fun starts," Rumplestiltskin grinned. With a snap of his fingers, my vision suddenly went dark and I collapsed onto the ground unconscious.**_

* * *

"Are you making chilli?" Emma asked as she came down the stairs.

"Yup," I answered as Liv handed me a bowl of diced celery. "But it's vegetarian."

Emma made a bit of a face. "Vegetarian?"

" I don't know if you're a vegetarian so I just decided to play it safe. Besides, I make a mean vegetarian chilli," I insisted. I grabbed a spoon from the drawer and took a bit out of the pot. "Try it."

Emma eyed it uneasily, but she took the spoon and put it in her mouth. Her eyes flickered with a glow. "Okay, it's not bad," She allowed as she went over and put the spoon into the sink.

There was a knock on the door and I handed the mixing spoon to Emma. "Watch the chili and if it burns you're starting from scratch."

I went over and answered the door, swinging it open to reveal Mr. Gold on the other side. "Miss Parker," He greeted. "Is Miss Swan here?"

"Yeah, sure," I answered as I turned my head into the house. "Emma!" I called out.

She came over, spoon still in her hand. "Yeah?"

"Hi, my name's Mr. Gold," He greeted. "We met briefly on your arrival."

"I remember," Emma nodded.

"Good," Mr. Gold said. "I have a proposition for you, Miss Swan. I, uh… I need your help. I'm looking for someone."

"Really? Um…" Emma said awkwardly.

I grabbed the spoon out of her hand. "I'm gonna go finish off dinner. Would you like to join us, Mr. Gold?"

He shook his head. "Thank you for the offer, though."

"Okay," I said as I gave Emma a nod and walked back into the kitchen.

I was assuming they conversed a little and after a few minutes, Emma came back into the kitchen with Henry in tow.

"Oh, hey Henry," I said to him. "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

"He can't," Emma interjected. "Rosie, do you think you could give me a hand with something?"

"Sure Emma," I said. "What'd you need?"

"I need you to help me find someone," Emma informed me. "Ashley Boyd?"

"Hey! You'll let Rosie help but you won't let me help?" Henry protested.

"Because Rosie is a grown woman," Emma explained to him. "Can you put your chilli on hold?"

I nodded, putting the potlid on top. "I just don't have a babysitter for Liv."

"Mary Margaret would do it!" Henry suggested. "You guys are friends, after all."

That was true. Before Emma came to down, I didn't speak to Mary Margaret much, if at all. But after what happened with David and Kathryn, I felt for her a little. She'd been over a few times since then and told me that in exchange for my kindness, she'd do anything for me. I hoped she didn't mind if I collected.

* * *

 _ **When I came to, I was in an unfamiliar house. I shook off the dizziness feeling as I attempted to sit up. I said "attempted" because my hands were tightly bounded with rope that was attached to a table leg. I tugged on the ropes but they wouldn't give. They must have been tied by experts.**_

 _ **The smell of smoke invaded my senses, and I sharply turned my head to the side to see a fire had been started by the front door. I gasped in surprise and accidentally inhaled some of the smoke. I turned back to the ropes and frantically pulled on them. "Come on, come on!" I begged. I raised my voice. "Rumplestiltskin! Help! Anybody! Help me!"**_

 _ **Nobody answered, and I coughed roughly when more smoke invaded my lungs. The fire was growing by the second (due to the house being made of wood) and I was still attached to the table. Panic bubbled up within me as desperate tears slipped down my cheeks. "Come on!" I screeched but no matter how I twisted or tugged or moved, the ropes wouldn't become undone.**_

 _ **I closed my eyes and tried blocking out the fire, the rest of the world. I focused my magic on the ropes on my hand and imagined them loosening. I could feel the heat of the fire on my back but I was determined to ignore it as I gave my hands one final tug. To my relief, the ropes gave away and I fell backwards. My back hit the hard ground, and I scrambled to stand up before the fires could burn me. The smell of burning hair filled the air, and I knew that the flames must have touched my hair.**_

 _ **The door wasn't an option to get out since that was where the fire had apparently started, so I ran over to one of the windows. I tried opening it but it refused to budge. I grabbed a chair and threw it at the window, but even that failed to make the window shatter. I smashed my hands against the window, screaming in frustration.**_

 _ **I took a step back as I held my hands out in front of the window. I closed my eyes and squeezed my hands together as I imagined the window breaking. To my delight, I heard the sound of shattering glass. I opened my eyes and enough of the window had broken so that I could get out. I put a chair in front of the window, stepped on top of it, and grabbed the sides of the window as I stepped on to the window sill.**_

 _ **I looked down at the ground and it wasn't a very far jump. I steeled myself to jump out, but the flames of the fire licked at my ankles and I screamed in pain, losing my balance and falling out the window.**_

 _ **I landed with a loud thud and held in my groan as I turned to lay on my stomach. I coughed, trying to get rid of the smoke in my body as I attempted to rub off the dirt that was on my face.**_

 _ **A maniacal laugh made me look up and suddenly Rumplestiltskin was standing in front of me. "Congratulations, dearie. You passed the first test."**_

* * *

Mary Margaret was only too happy to take care of Olivia. Once we dropped her off, Emma, Henry, and I walked to Emma's car, who insisted on driving.

"Please let me help," Henry insisted.

"No! No, it could be dangerous," Emma responded.

"The pregnant maid is dangerous?" Henry questioned.

"She assaulted Mr. Gold," Emma informed us.

"Wait, a pregnant girl assaulted an old man?" I asked.

"Apparently," Emma replied. "This isn't a game. She's desperate."

"How do you know?" Henry asked.

"Because I know," Emma dismissed.

"Well, then let's find her," Henry concluded.

"Oh no," I said as Emma and I turned around. "You can't come with us. If you do, you could get hurt, and then your Mom will eat the two of us alive."

"She's not kidding," Emma agreed.

"Then I'll look for her myself," Henry said.

"Then I'll find you and I'll bring you back," Emma retorted.

"Then you wouldn't be helping the maid," Henry shot back.

Emma sighed a little. "I am just trying to be responsible, here."

"And I'm just trying to spend time with you," Henry said.

I made a face as Henry got into the back seat of Emma's car. "Ooh, he's got you there."

"Oh, that is really not fair," Emma commented as I got into the passenger side and she got into the driver's.

"So, the maid. What's her story?" Henry asked as we drove towards Granny's.

* * *

 _ **Rumplestiltskin offered me a hand to stand up, but I ignored it as I got to my feet myself. I bit my scream back at putting pressure on my ankle. "What are you talking about? What test?"**_

 _ **"The first test was to see if you could use your magic in a circumstance of extreme stress," He answered as he turned around and started walking. I had no choice but to follow him, so I lifted my skirt slight and went after him, limping on my bad ankle.**_

 _ **"What does that have to do with getting the people not to fear me?" I questioned.**_

 _ **"That'll be revealed all in good time," He answered. He spun around, abruptly stopping me and causing me to nearly slip and fall. "Now, about your magic..."**_

 _ **"What about it?"**_

 _ **"Where did it come from?" He asked.**_

 _ **I made a bit of a face. "I don't know what you mean."**_

 _ **"I mean, which parent of yours has magic? Your mother? Your father?"**_

 _ **I shook my head. "My parents don't have magic. Neither do my siblings. Just me."**_

 _ **"Now, isn't**_ **that** _ **curious," Rumplestiltskin said as he walked in a circle around me. "You are the only person in your family to have magic."**_

 _ **"My mother called me special," I informed him.**_

 _ **He chuckled. "You think having magic makes you special?" He asked. "Dearie, if magic makes you special, then that would mean that nearly half the land would be special." He pointed at me. "However, in your case, you**_ **are** _ **special."**_

 _ **"How?" I questioned.**_

 _ **"This is how magic works, child," Rumplestiltskin began. "Those with magic start on a neutral line. They're either born on a neutral line, or when they practice magic, it's on a neutral line. It is the witch or wizard's choice to use their magic for evil or for good. Everyone starts with a clean slate." He pointed at me again. "In your case, however, since both of your parents possessed such dark magical potential, well, the universe had to make a way to balance that all out. So instead of you being born neutral, you were born with extreme light magic."**_

 _ **"I don't know what you are getting at," I insisted. "My parents don't have magic!"**_

 _ **"Of course they do!" He retorted. "Because the people that you call your parents aren't your parents!"**_

 _ **I felt like I had been slapped in the face. "What did you just say?"**_

 _ **"You were adopted," Rumplestiltskin said.**_

 _ **"I am not going to stand here and be fed lies by the likes of**_ **you** _ **," I practically sneered as I turned around to leave. I gasped in surprise when Rumplestiltskin had suddenly appeared in front of me.**_

 _ **"Why would I lie to you?" He asked. "I have no reason to. Your magic is very special because of the lightness in it. The only way for it to turn dark is for you to do an unspeakable act, such as, I don't know, murder."**_

 _ **"Well, you don't have to worry about my magic turning dark," I told him. "I'll never let it happen. My magic can't go dark."**_

 _ **Rumplestiltskin held up a finger. "But your heart can. And that would be reflected in your magic."**_

 _ **"I would still never let that happen," I said determinedly.**_

 _ **"Are you willing to test that theory?" Rumplestiltskin asked with a twinkle in his eyes. He snapped his fingers and a cloud of purple smoke appeared in front of me. When it went away, it revealed the man who had yelled at me earlier today, the man who made me feel bad about who I was. Rumplestiltskin waved his hand and a dagger appeared from the puff of smoke. He held out the dagger to me. "Kill this man."**_

* * *

 **TBC...**

 **The next part shall follow shortly, I just wanted part of this episode up already!**

 **REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	6. The Price of Gold, part 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Once Upon a Time! I only own my OC, Rosaline "Rosie" Blanche Parker, and any other characters and plot lines I make up along the way!

 **Author's Note:** I apologize for the late update (I started a new show with over 200 episodes so it took me a week to catch up) but I'm back now!

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"So, this boyfriend of hers. You don't think he was involved in her disappearance?" Emma asked Ruby when we got to the diner.

"Uh, that would mean he was involved with her at all, which he isn't. He left her in the lurch, right after they found out they were expecting," Ruby revealed. "Hasn't spoken to her since. Like I said-"

She cut herself off abruptly when her car that was being dropped off by a tow truck dropped and nearly broke the wolf charm hanging on the mirror in her car. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Billy, be careful! You almost shattered my wolf thing, Billy. It's good luck."

"I'm sorry, Ruby. But look – it's fine," Billy said, gesturing to it.

"Ruby?" I said, gaining her attention back by waving in her face. "Does Ashley have any family?"

"Oh, um, she's got a stepmom and two stepsisters that she doesn't talk to," Ruby informed us.

"Wait. Stepmom, stepsisters, and she's a maid?" Henry questioned, and it hit me why it peaked his interest-it sounded like Cinderella.

"Henry. Not now," Emma insisted.

"Look. I don't know what you've heard, but it's wrong. Everyone thinks she's not ready to have this kid, but she's trying," Ruby said. "Taking night classes, trying to better herself… Trying to get her life together. Can you understand that?"

Emma nodded. "I think so."

"Then maybe you should just stay out of it. She's been through enough already," Ruby said.

"I've been through it too, Ruby, and I can help her," Emma insisted.

"That's all we're trying to do," I added.

"Then, try her ex," Ruby suggested.

"Where can we find him?" Emma asked, her eyes briefly flickering to me.

"He lives with his dad," Ruby said, and she proceeded to give us instructions.

* * *

 _ **"What? No!" I shouted, stepping back from the man. "Why would I do that?"**_

 _ **"Is this man not the reason that you made a deal with me?" Rumplestiltskin asked.**_

 _ **I looked back down at the man who looked downright terrified at the event that was unfolding. He kept alternating his gaze between the blade and me.**_

 _ **"Is this man not the reason that you felt ashamed of who you are?" He continued as he stepped closer to me. I stood my ground as I held his stare.**_

 _ **It was true, this man was the defining reason why I had finally broken down and cried about who I was. He had a reason to be scared.**_

 _ **"He's right to be scared, isn't he?" Rumplestiltskin continued as if he had read my mind. "He's afraid of what you're capable of, as he was before." His face was beside my ear now. "Tell him what he makes you feel."**_

 _ **I stared down at the man. "You made me feel like I shouldn't be alive," I told him, feeling my eyes brimming with tears. "Like I should be ashamed of who I am just because I was born this way. You made me feel like the monster that you make me out to be."**_

 _ **"Show him what you are capable of," Rumplestiltskin whispered.**_

 _ **"You want to see a monster?" I asked him. "I'll**_ **show** _ **you a monster."**_

 _ **"Rosaline-" the man started, but I ceased his talking as I stuck my hand out and grabbed his throat using my magic.**_

 _ **I slowly lifted him as I continued speaking. "Don't talk," I repeated his own words to him, feeling my throat choke up with tears. "You're nothing but a monster, and I won't have you endangering my family." I took the dagger from Rumplestiltskin's hand and threw it in the air, suspending it there with my magic. I made the dagger inch closer and closer to the man's face, enjoying the feeling of watching his eyes widen as the tip of the blade got closer to his throat. "Do everyone a favour and disappear," I finished.**_

 _ **Just as I reared my arm back to shove the dagger into his throat, I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection of the blade. I had a crazy look on my face and a slight red tint to my eyes. I snapped out of the trance that was in and realized what position I was in. I gasped in shock at my behaviour as I lost focus of my magic, causing both the man and the dagger to drop to the ground.**_

 _ **"Get out of here!" I told the man. "Run and don't look back!"**_

 _ **He didn't need to be told twice. He got to his feet and scurried away as I turned angrily to Rumplestiltskin. "What were you having me do? Your evil was obviously influencing me."**_

 _ **He shook his head. "With all due respect, dearie, all I did was give you the dagger. It was up to you what to do with it" He held up two fingers. "That was the second test. And congratulations, you passed."**_

* * *

Emma knocked on Sean, Ashley's boyfriend's, door. At the same time, a car began pulling up in the driveway.

The door opened and a man poked his head out. "Can I help you?" He asked.

"Sean Herman?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. Who are you?"

"I'm Emma Swan," Emma introduced. She pointed at me. "And this is Rosie Parker. We're... we're looking for Ashley Boyd. She's in trouble. Just thought maybe she came to see you."

A man had emerged from the car and walked up the steps to us. "My son doesn't have anything to do with that girl anymore. So, whatever trouble she's in, I am sorry for her, but there's nothing we can do to help you."

"You're the reason he broke up with her," Emma deduced.

"Absolutely. I'm not going to let my son throw away his entire life over a mistake," Mr. Herman confirmed.

"So you just told him to kick her to the curb?" I questioned.

"Well, what are they going to do? Raise the child in the back seat of a car?" Mr. Herman asked.

"Some people only have the back seat of a car," Emma said through gritted teeth.

"Well, they're to be pitied. I'm not letting that happen to my son," Mr. Herman said.

"Dad, maybe we should help her look," Sean suggested.

"It's a waste, Sean," Mr. Herman insisted.

"Sean, if you want to come, come. Stop letting other people make decisions for you. If Ashley runs away with this baby, she's going to be in some serious trouble," Emma explained to him.

"She's running away with the baby?" Sean asked incredulously.

"It's sure what it looks like," I told him.

"Sean. Inside. Now," his father ordered, and he relented, stepping back into the house. Mr. Herman turned to the two of us. "Look. Believe me, if I knew where she was, I would tell you. I went to a lot of trouble to get her that deal."

"Deal? What are you talking about?" Emma asked.

"You don't know? Ashley agreed to give up the child. And she's being paid very well to do so," Mr. Herman revealed.

Emma and I lifted our eyebrows in surprise and asked at the same time, "She sold her baby?"

"Oh, you two make it sound so crass," Mr. Herman said. "I found someone who's going to find that child a good and proper home."

"And who are you to judge whether Ashley is capable of providing that?" Emma asked.

"Look at her. She's a teenager. She's never shown any evidence of being responsible. How could she possibly know how to be a mother?" Mr. Herman aksed.

"Maybe she's getting her life in order, she's changing," I insisted.

"Everybody says that. Now, look. I found someone who's going to pay Ashley extremely well. Someone who's going to see to it that everybody's happy," Mr. Herman said.

It dawned on me who it was just as Emma said it, "Mr. Gold."

"Well, isn't that why you were hired? To bring him the baby?" Mr. Herman questioned.

* * *

 _ **"What in hell kind of test is that?!" I screeched at him. I pointed behind me to where the man I almost murdered ran away. "You had me nearly kill a man for a**_ **test** _ **?!"**_

 _ **"Oh, relax, I knew you wouldn't do it," Rumplestiltskin answered. "Well, I hoped you wouldn't. And in answer to your question, that test showed that you had the potential of magic at your disposal, and you chose to use it for good. Definitely not as fun, but in someone like you's eyes, the better choice."**_

 _ **I shook my head in horror. "I don't know what kind of sick game you are playing but I refuse to continue playing it!"**_

 _ **"But you must," Rumplestiltskin said. He snapped his fingers, and the parchment from earlier appeared in my face. "You signed a contract, so you must abide by its rules."**_

 _ **"I didn't know those were the rules, otherwise I'd never have signed it!"**_

 _ **"But you did," He said, and the parchment disappeared. "Now, are you ready for your final test?"**_

 _ **"If that was my first and my second, I don't even want to begin to think about what my last is like," I huffed.**_

 _ **Rumplestiltskin snapped his fingers again and a figure popped up, accompanied by a purple puff of smoke. Once the smoke disappeared, it revealed my mother.**_

 _ **"Mother?" I questioned. I snapped my head up to Rumplestiltskin. "Listen, leave her out of this."**_

 _ **Rumplestiltskin laughed gleefully. "Too late." And with that, he dug his hand into my mother's back and yanked out her heart, crushing it within his fist and letting the dust fall to the ground.**_

 _ **"NO!" I screamed, lunging forward and grabbing my mother's body. "Mother! Mother! No!" I cried, pushing her hair out of her face and tapping her cheeks. "Wake up. Come on, please, wake up!"**_

 _ **My tears fell on to her cheeks but did nothing to rouse her. I checked her pulse but was heartbroken not feeling one.**_

 _ **I sobbed for a few more seconds before looking up at the grin on Rumplestiltskin's face. "What on Earth have you done?" I growled. I let my mother's body slide to the ground as I stood up, ignoring the shot of pain that went up my ankle.**_

 _ **I stuck out my hand and grabbed Rumplestiltskin by the throat using my magic. I lifted him up into the air as I used my other hand to make a fist. I imagined the very roots and branches of the trees to come up out of the ground, and they did so influenced by my magic as I lifted my hand up. I shot my hand out, and the branches tied up around Rumplestiltskin. The roots had constricted his airways, but I didn't care as I clenched my fist harder and harder, tightening the grip of the branches and roots. The roots that were the tightest were around his neck, and I lifted my hand up to level his neck.**_

 _ **"You shouldn't have killed my mother," I hissed, and I yanked my hand backwards to finish him off.**_

* * *

We piled back into Emma's car and explained the whole ordeal to Henry, who had missed it.

"You can't make her double cross Gold. No one's ever broken a deal with him," Henry insisted.

"I'm happy to be the first. If Ashley wants to have this baby, she should have it. Anyone who wants to be a mother, should damn well be allowed to be one," Emma said.

We pulled up to Granny's Diner and walked in. The three of us approached Ruby as Emma asked, "Why didn't you tell us she sold the baby?"

"Because I didn't think it was important," Ruby answered.

"'Not important'?" I repeated. "She's running away because she agreed to sell her baby."

"Look, Ashley's my friend. I don't like the idea of people judging her," Ruby said.

I noticed Emma's gaze flicker to Ruby's wolf charm on the counter. "Ruby, where's your car?" Something seemed to click in her mind as her face changed in realization. "You didn't send us to Sean to find her. You sent us there to give her a head start."

"Look, I'm only trying to help her," Ruby defended.

"Yes, so are we," I said as I pointed at Emma and I. "Ashley's in a lot of trouble, Ruby, probably more than she let on. Where is she? She can't deal with Gold without us."

Ruby hesitated as her gaze flickered to Henry. "I can't talk in front of him. He's the Mayor's kid."

"Hey! I'm on your side," Henry interjected.

Emma sighed a little as she turned to face Henry. She bent down a little as she said, "Henry, I need to find this woman. And in order to do that, I need you to go home, okay? So please listen to me. Seriously. She's not going to tell me anything if you're around."

Henry hesitated but said, "Okay."

"Thank you," Emma said to him as he left the diner. Emma and I turned back to Ruby.

"She left town," Ruby explained. "Said she was going to try Boston. Thought she could disappear there."

"How long ago did she leave?" Emma asked.

"About a half an hour," Ruby answered.

Emma turned her head to me. "Are you up for an impromptu road trip?"

I smirked. "Always."

* * *

"Just to let you know I am _not_ the best navigator," I informed Emma as I opened the map. "I can't even make it to the grocery store without a GPS sometimes."

"It doesn't matter," Emma said. "Just hold the map out well enough that I can see it."

"Didn't you come from Boston? Why do you need a map?"

Before Emma could answer, a head popped out from the back seat and we both jumped. However, it was just Henry. "What'd she tell you?" He asked.

"Henry! What the hell? We're going to Boston. You can't come with us," Emma insisted.

Henry shook his head frantically. "You can't go to Boston! She can't leave and neither can Rosie! Bad things happen to anyone who does."

"I don't have time to argue with you over the curse. I've got to get you home," Emma sighed.

"We have to stop her before she gets hurt! We're wasting time! If you drop me off, we'll never catch up to her," Henry pointed out.

"Henry..." Emma started.

"And then Mr. Gold will call the police, and he'll have her sent to jail," Henry added.

I gave Emma a look. "How does it feel to be shut up by a ten year old?"

Emma gave me a glare as she turned to address Henry. "…Buckle up." Under her breath, she muttered, "Ashley, what did you get yourself into?"

We drove for a while until the town sign was starting to become visible. Henry suddenly pointed, sticking his arm out. "I told you! It's her car!"

Emma pulled over, and the three of us got out of her car as we rushed to Ruby's car, which had been driven into a ditch.

"Ashley!" Emma called out.

A quick scan of her car revealed Ashley not to be there. "Emma, she isn't in there!" I said.

There was a sudden moaning sound from the side, and we followed it to find Ashley sitting in the grass, clutching her stomach desperately. "My baby! It's coming!" She screamed.

* * *

 _ **Just as I brought my arm back to end Rumplestiltskin's life, I suddenly hesitated. Was I really about to end a man's life? For something as petty as revenge?**_

 _ **But one more look at my mother's lifeless corpse was all I needed to rear my arm back again, but just as I did, there was another cloud of smoke where he was trapped and when the smoke disappeared he was gone. I ran over to the mess and frantically looked around it, looking for him. The roots and branches suddenly came to life once more as they sprang out and grabbed my arms, my legs, my stomach, entrapping me in its snares.**_

 _ **I felt my breathing turn into short, constricted breaths as the roots turned me around, and I was suddenly face to face with Rumplestiltskin again.**_

 _ **"Congratulations, dearie," He drawled as he stepped closer to me. "You passed the third and final test."**_

 _ **"What...was...this...test?" I choked out.**_

 _ **"It's kind of a combination of the first two," He explained. "What you'd do with magic at your disposal during times of extreme stress, and what you'd do with magic at your disposal to people in general. This test was to show what your instinctive reaction would be when you used your magic."**_

 _ **"How...did...I...pass?" I gargled. "I...nearly...killed...you."**_

 _ **"But you hesitated," Rumplestiltskin pointed out. "You still showed control."**_

 _ **"What...was...the...point...of...your...tests?" I heaved.**_

 _ **He rolled his eyes at me. "In order for the people of your village to not think of you as a monster, you must first not think of**_ **yourself** _ **as one." He stepped a little closer to me. "Do you think yourself a monster?"**_

 _ **I thought of the things that my magic could do. Make people laugh, make beautiful things, make myself happy. But then I also thought of what bad things my magic could do, but only if I was pushed to the absolute brink. I'd do what any normal person would do to protect themselves and their loved ones, didn't I? So, I guess... "No," I finally answered.**_

 _ **He clapped his hands. "Wonderful!" His gaze flickered to my mother. "Your mother will be absolutely fine. That's not even really her." With a snap of his fingers, the body disintegrated. I felt such intense relieve course through me, that my body would have flopped to the ground if the branches and roots hadn't been holding me up. He clapped his hands again. "Well then, my work here is done."**_

 _ **Rumplestiltskin turned around and started walking away, but I stopped him by calling out, "Rumplestiltskin! Your price was a favour. Anything that you desire. What do you want?"**_

 _ **Rumplestiltskin stopped walking, and he was suddenly in front of me again. I flinched back, and the back of my head collided with the tough branch behind me. "Why, your tests**_ **was** _ **my favour."**_

 _ **"What?" I questioned. "How?"**_

 _ **"Do you think I found you accidentally?" Rumplestiltskin scoffed. "Absolutely not. I don't strike deals with people unless I require something in return. And the results of your tests was what I desired."**_

 _ **"And why would my tests help**_ **you** _ **?" I asked.**_

 _ **He moved my face closer to mine, and I shrank back. "You see, dearie, they call you 'The Light One'. Well, they call**_ **me** _ **'The Dark One'. Obviously I had to see the strength of magic of my natural enemy. And let me tell you, you did not disappoint. Now I see I had no reason to fear." He snapped his fingers and the branches and roots gave away, dropping me to the ground. I groaned in pain as my head hit a rather large rock. "You may have the magical potential, Rosaline, but you will never compare to me."**_

 _ **With that, he snapped his fingers once more and he was gone, leaving a puff of purple smoke and a very confused me in his wake.**_

* * *

Henry had moved to the front of the car so I was sitting in the back with Ashley. She held tightly on to my hand as I patted her gently on the back.

"Is the baby really coming?" Henry asked.

I winced at the pain in my hand from Ashley gripping it so hard. "There is no doubt about it," I answered as I gritted my teeth.

"Don't worry – the hospital isn't that far," Emma assured us.

"No! No, no, no!" Ashley insisted, leaning forward. I pushed her back gently as she continued to struggle a bit. "Take me to Boston. I can't go back there."

"Oh no, we don't have four hours. Trust me – I know," Emma said.

"I can't go back there. Please. He's going to take my baby," Ashley practically sobbed.

"We won't let that happen," Emma told her, her eyes flickering to meet mine briefly. "Do you know what you're asking for? If you keep this child, are you really ready?"

Ashley nodded her head. "Yeah."

"Are you sure? Because I wasn't," Emma said.

"You weren't?" Ashley questioned.

Emma shook her head. "Nope. If you want to give this kid its best chance, it's going to be with someone who's ready, so know what that means. Your whole life is going to change and once you decide that it's yours, this 'running away' can't happen. You have to grow up and you can't ever leave. Understand?"

"Yes. I want my baby," Ashley answered without hesitation. She squeezed my hand even harder, letting out a groan.

"Emma, I'm friends with the Sheriff, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you went over the speeding limit!" I insisted.

* * *

"You know, Emma. You're different," Henry said a bit after we got to the hospital and were sitting in the waiting room.

"What's that?" Emma asked.

"You're the only one who could do it," Henry told her.

"Break the curse?" Emma questioned. "But, hang on. I thought you said I needed Rosie to help break the curse."

"Yes, you do, but that's not what I was talking about," Henry explained. "You're the only one who can leave Storybrooke."

"You left and came and found me in Boston," Emma pointed out.

"But I came back. I'm ten – I had no choice. But if anyone else tried to go, bad things would happen," Henry said.

Emma turned to me. "Have you tried leaving Storybrooke?"

I shook my head. "Come to think of it, no."

She turned back to Henry. "So, anyone, except me?"

"You're the saviour," Henry explained. "You can do whatever you want. You can go."

A doctor approached us, and Emma and I stood up as he said, "Miss Swan, Ms. Parker. Baby is a healthy six pound girl and the mother is doing fine."

"What lovely news," A new voice said, and we both turned to see Mr. Gold strolling into the hospital. "Excellent work, Miss Swan. And Ms. Parker, I must add. Thank you for bringing me my merchandise."

Emma gave me a look, letting me know that she wanted to talk to Mr. Gold alone. "I'm just going to go pull up with the car." I turned to Emma. "Keys?"

She tossed them to me, and I exited the hospital as I made my way to the parking lot. I felt a little bad that I couldn't be there to see the look on Ashley's face as she held her daughter, because I knew how much joy I felt when I first held mine, but hey, whatever Emma needed to do, she'd do.

Just as I pulled up to the front of the hospital, Emma and Henry were running out. Emma got into the passenger seat while Henry crawled into the back. "Get to Regina's. It's almost five, we gotta get him home." She jerked her head at Henry.

"Can do," I answered as I shifted the gear into drive and began driving to Mayor Mills home.

It was quiet for a bit before Emma turned her head to nod at Henry. "'Pumpkin'. My code name. I was thinking in honour of Cinderella. 'Pumpkin'."

Henry shook his head, and Emma smirked. "You got a better one in mind?"

He nodded. "Yep."

"Well?" Emma asked.

"I'm not sure you're ready yet," Henry explained.

"Whoa, what's up with the code names?" I asked. "Don't I get one?"

Henry smiled as he leaned forward. "It's for Operation Cobra. I guess we should tell you, because you're technically in on it, too. It's our plan for breaking the curse. And I _do_ have a code name for you!"

I smiled as I caught his gaze in the rear view mirror. "Lay it on me, kid."

"It's 'Light'," He said. "As in 'The Light One'."

I nodded my head in acceptance. "Not as good as Pumpkin but I'll take it."

I pulled up to his house, and Henry got out, but Emma leaned over me and rolled down the driver's side window. "Henry! About what you said at the hospital. About me being able to leave?"

"Yeah?" He asked.

Emma smiled at her kid. "See you tomorrow."

Henry smiled back at her as he waved to the two of us, and we waved back as he ran into his house. I turned back to Emma who had righted herself in her seat. I gave her a knowing look.

"What?" She asked.

"Oh, nothing," I said I shifted back into drive. "Let's just go pick up my own kid, and we can have some vegetarian chili."

"I'm still taking your word for it that it's good."

"What? You said it was good when you tried it!"

"I was just being nice. It barely tasted like anything!"

"Fine, next time, _you_ cook dinner."

"I will."

"Fine."

"Good."

"Good."

"Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're my friend."

"Me too."

* * *

 **TBC...**

 **Until next time!**

* * *

 _ **Review Responses...**_

 _ **grapejuice101:**_ Now you know what happened! Here's your update! (Sorry I got SO ABSORBED INTO THE SHOW I WOULD WATCH LIKE 35 EPISODES A DAY)

 _ **Friday1221:**_ Thank you so much! It means so much to me!

 _ **LiLuLo12:**_ Thank you!

 _ **Lolo:**_ I got scared for a second there LOL! But now you know what happened with the flashbacks!

 _ **Tori**_ : Yup, she is adopted! We'll find out soon who her parents are, since they're both of extreme dark magic and she was born with extreme light to balance it out. Here is your update! What do you think of Rosie's actions and of Rumplestiltskin's intentions while helping her?

* * *

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